Hard Times
by A Derpy King Boo
Summary: Life is funny, always throwing us curveballs and whatnot. However, it appears that all I get is curveballs and I have just about had it! Life after death intrigues just about anyone's mind, but does anyone truly know what goes on after you die? Perhaps death is the best option one chooses in their life. Can it be a second chance? Or was it all for nothing? Rated M for graphics!
1. Chapter 1

Hard Times

Life. Are we living it? Or is it living us?

Are there simplistic ways to life? Or do we have to live through all the heartaches?

It seems as if life is nothing but disappointment and depression, constant pain and no gain.

Life has been rough as of late. It's as if I have to go through all the hardships and heartaches at such a young age, for no reason. At the age of seventeen, I was diagnosed with Stage Four Hodgkin's Lymphoma, leaving me with a slim chance of life. At age eighteen, I lost my father to cancer – a seven year battle he endured. At age twenty-one, my sister had committed suicide since her boyfriend left her after a five year relationship ended abruptly. When I was twenty-two, I lost my favorite cousin to cancer. Oddly enough, we were both diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the same time, February of 2012, with the same stage, Stage 4. He lost his battle while I continue to struggle with mine.

On my twenty-fourth birthday, my grandmother, aunt, and mother had all died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver, something that should have never happened. Period. When I turned twenty-six, my two remaining close cousins also suffered the same fate as my mother did...

By my twenty-seventh birthday, I was the last of my immediate family from my mother's side. I never knew the members of my father's side of the family so I refrained from engaging any sort of conversation or contact with them. I was all alone – cancer patient, no job, no family...

No life...

Don't get me wrong, I'm open to independence. It's just that...what I'm trying to...

How do I put it?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like being alone, but at the same time, I hate being alone...if that makes any sense...

At this day in age, I'm surprised I haven't gone completely insane or lost my mind or even committed suicide. Don't get me wrong, I have thought about it – suicide, that is – but I can't imagine the afterlife. What's it like? Where do you go? What happens to your dead corpse? Who knows? Is death painful? Or is suffering from a broken bone more painful than death?

In my bedroom, inside a nightstand drawer, there is a handgun – a pistol, if you will. Next to the pistol are two bullets, one for self defense, and one for the end. The pistol used to belong to my father when he was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He gave it to me, as per his request in his will, and I've kept it in my nightstand drawer, which also used to be his. In case I forgot to mention this, I've lived in this house all my life, watching many events unfold before my very eyes – September 11th, the war in Iraq, Barack Obama becoming the first African American president, witnessing three family members, myself included, get diagnosed with cancer – and they've all taken their toll on me and my life in some sort of way.

I approached the nightstand in my poorly lit room, light only coming in from the full moon that was embracing the land in a dim white light. I opened up the drawer and saw the moonlight reflect off the sleek, chrome pistol. It had been kept very clean, having it's own rag, located right next to the bullets that were in the drawer. I had grabbed the rag, then embraced the rag around the pistol, bringing it closer to me. I admired the sleek design of the pistol, running my fingers over the barrel of the pistol and down the side of it and over the trigger, which I accidentally pulled, but was fine since the pistol was empty of ammunition.

"Oh, how I wish you were still here..." I sadly spoke, referring to my father obviously, the previous owner of this beautiful pistol.

I call her beautiful because she means a lot to me and she meant a lot to my father. I remember when I was younger, probably around sixteen-years-old, I saw a story on the news that both me and my father scoffed at. The topic – ironic enough – was about weaponry and it's effects in public areas.

"'They say that people don't kill people, but that guns kill people.'" My father recited to me.

"Isn't that true though, dad?" I asked. Back when I was sixteen, I never really thought about that statement.

"If that's true, son," my father continued, "then I guess knives stab people and planes crash into buildings. It's always the objects' fault; never the person holding or controlling the object."

My father was a wise man, really making you think with his statements. I remember holding on to those words and putting them in the back of my head, where I wouldn't ever forget them, foolish as it sounds.

I looked down at the sleek beauty, grabbed a bullet, then took the pistol outside where I could get a better look at it under the moonlight. I gazed up at the bright full moon and admired its beauty. The moon was awe inspiring, hypnotic even. The moon is only like this twice a year, on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, and the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. Tonight was the winter solstice and, up in the north, it was unseasonably warm. I never minded the warm weather, but it seemed as if this year, mother nature decided to skip the pleasant autumn and go straight from summer to winter. Tonight was an unusual sixty-eight degrees, with little wind movement.

I took in some of the crisp cool air of the night and closed my eyes. I began to think about my dead relatives, how they were doing up in heaven and how the time flew by without them to share a few laughs with along the way. I don't think I mentioned this, but I am an atheist. I choose not to believe in God, but I do choose to believe in heaven and hell, as odd as it sounds. However, that's besides the point.

I began gripping the pistol a bit tighter as tears began falling from the corners of my eyes, down the side of my face and, ultimately, down to the ground. I missed my family very much, there was no doubt about that. I'd kill to see them again, I really would. Looking back up at the sky, I closed my eyes tightly so that the tears could stop escaping and sighed slowly.

"Wait for me, everyone..." I said.

I motioned the arm holding the pistol up to my head, with the barrel of the pistol touching the side of my head. It was cold and unforgiving, almost as if it didn't want me to proceed with what I was about to do. I didn't want to do it, but I also didn't want to live like this anymore. So, with one last, painful sigh, I opened my eyes, looked up at the moon and pulled the trigger. I heard the gunshot and felt the bullet tear through my skull and brain, going in one side and coming out of the other. My vision had become disoriented and time appeared to slow down tremendously. The last thing I remember while on earth was my body collapsing onto the cold, wet ground.

Suicide was the answer, I guess.


	2. Chapter 2

I saw my dead corpse collapsed on the ground. My left hand still maintained a grip on the beautiful pistol that was forced to perform a horrific act of vigilance. My right arm was bent in the most unusual of ways, one that appeared as if it would hurt a living person. A lot, might I add.

I don't understand this; why am I still here? What's the purpose of making me stare at my dead body? What's the purpose with me still being here exactly?

I started sobbing over the choice I had just performed, though no tears fell from my eyes. I guess when you die, there is nothing there to create tears anymore. So the best alternative is to sob. I require no air anymore, no breathing, no life, no death, apparently. My ghost had flown over to my dead body and I tried my best to fuse with it once more, though I couldn't perform said action successfully.

My heart sank when the reality of the matter set in that I am now dead.

Suddenly, my ghost was being dragged by an unknown force. I was being dragged into the sky, away from my dead body. I struggled mightily to strive back towards my body, but found myself only being pulled away faster, farther, higher. As I was pulled behind the clouds, I stopped trying to return to my body. Instead, I was hypnotized by some beautiful, swirling colors, almost like that of a kaleidoscope. The colors were pretty, taking my mind off of my suicide for a brief moment.

This spectacular light show lasted only for a split second, then everything faded to black. I was all alone in this dark universe, scared for my...life?

My mind was once again taken off of my fears as the surrounding area had become brightly colorful. The surrounding area was brightly colored, giving off such a warm, compassionate, and friendly feeling. Nearby were some apple trees and a calm, steadily flowing stream. In the far off distance was a large red barn and in the line of vision, near the horizon line, was a town attached to the side of a steep mountain.

"What is this place?" I quietly asked myself, "It's so colorful and warm!"

I began walking over towards the stream to quench my thirst, which randomly hit me as did these colors, but found myself face first in the ground, unable to ease my fall. I looked down at my feet and, instead, saw four emerald colored hooves. I was both stunned and amazed at this one little detailing I spotted. I was stunned because I had hooves now, but I was amazed because emerald green was one of my favorite colors and the fact that I had hooves now.

"What happened?" I muttered, "Where am I?"

I looked around frantically and began to panic. I didn't know where I was, how I got here, or even why I was here. All I knew was that I _was _here, whether I wanted to or not.

I stood back up on my four legs now, which seemed really weird, honestly. Walking on four legs was like the equivalent of crawling back in the human world. It wasn't natural, but I guess after a while, one could get used to this style of "walking."

After getting used to my new style of walking, I had begun approaching the red barn I saw from earlier. I figured that I should attempt to make a connection with someone, even if it meant that my life would be put in danger. Let's be honest, when you come from where I'm from, the last thing you'd want to do is make connections with a complete stranger. However, since I was raised in this environment, I could easily defend myself, should the situation get out of hand – err, out of hoof, I mean.

I continued my pursuits towards the barn and found myself quickly approaching it. It seemed as if time moved a lot quicker here in this world than back on earth. I wonder if that will be a good thing or a bad thing. Frankly, I'm wondering if I'm still alive or not.

As I approached the barn further, I noticed that there was a red colored stallion, an orange mare, a yellow filly, and a bright green mare. The bright green mare appeared older than anyone else there, but still appeared to be working just as hard as the other three were. I approached the side of the barn, near the entrance, but did not enter onto the property. I watched as the four of them did their hard farm work. Over time, the little yellow filly noticed me and called out to the orange mare.

"Applejack..." the filly called out, her voice somewhat hinting towards fear.

"What is it, Apple Bloom?" The orange mare, Applejack, called back, turning around to face her, noticing me in the process.

The filly, Apple Bloom, pointed one of her little yellow hooves at me as Applejack started approaching me. Applejack had a bright orange coat with a yellow mane and tail, some very nice green eyes, a brown cowboy hat, and three apples on her flank. I wasn't quite sure of what the three apples symbolized or why only Applejack had it and the red stallion had a green apple, the green mare had a pie, and Apple Bloom didn't have one, but I had to put that aside for now.

"What can I do ya for, partner?" Applejack cheerfully asked me.

Honestly, I was very nervous. Not because I was scared of Applejack, but because I wasn't quite sure of how this situation would handle itself. After some eerie silence, I finally spoke up and answered Applejack, not truthfully, but still answered her.

"Umm...I'm new in town and wanted to know if you could help me find my way around, if that's alright."

"Why, of course it is." smiled Applejack. "Ah'll be more than happy to show ya aroun' town, uhh...Ah di'n't catch yer name before..."

"I'm Robert." I calmly answer back before Applejack started showing me around town.

"Ah'll be back later, y'all!" Applejack called to the other three creatures before walking alongside me.

There were some awkward moments in my life, but none of them could come close to how awkward I felt at this very moment. I mean, I'm not the best when it comes to socializing, and when I'm with a girl – a girl of any kind, let me say – let's just say that I'm not myself, no extensions. Finally, I decided to speak up.

"Do you mind if I ask who those other three umm...creatures were?" I oddly asked.

"The big red fella is my older brother, Big Macintosh." Applejack answered. "The older green mare is Granny Smith and the lil yella filly is my sister, Apple Bloom."

"Oh..." I replied, not knowing what I should say, "and what's with the three apples on your back end?"

"That's my cutie mark," responded Applejack, "symbolizin' that my destiny is to help out on the farm."

"Do you mind me asking, why is yours different from the other three?"

"A cutie mark _is_ different for everypony." exclaimed Applejack.

I peered my head towards my back end, noticing that my "cutie mark" was an electric guitar on fire. I had stopped moving and began admiring it.

"Lemme ask you this, Rob," Applejack started after she noticed I had stopped moving, "do y'all play an instrument?"

"Yeah," I rapidly answered, causing Applejack to chuckle a bit, "I played an electric guitar back home,"

"An 'electric' guitar?" questioned Applejack.

"Yeah," I replied, "it's the equivalent of a regular guitar, but it provides more of a definite sound and requires an amp to hear said sound."

"An amp?"

"Yeah," I continued, "it's like a really, really big speaker."

"How long have y'all been playin' this electric guitar?" Applejack curiously asked.

"About nine or ten years now." I answered.

"Nine or ten years?" Applejack repeated. "Hope y'all are okay with me askin', but how old are ya?"

"I don't mind at all," I replied, "and I'm twenty-seven, how about you?"

"Twenty-seven?" Applejack repeated, showing signs of shock in her voice.

"Yeah," I replied.

I began thinking, maybe I should come clean and tell Applejack the truth about myself. Then again, how would she react if I told her I come from a place where there were two-legged creatures whom had hands? Would I look like a complete idiot? Or would she honestly understand me? I decided ultimately to come clean about my past.

"Listen, Applejack," I slowly started, "I have to come clean about something..."


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait a minute, lemme get this straight."

"Shoot, Applejack."

Applejack and I both stopped walking down the path we were on as she began to reiterate everything I had just told her.

"So, y'all are from another world and ya came here after you did WHAT?"

"I came here after I was killed back home." I answered falsely. Let's be honest, it was kind of true, though I killed myself, as you know. How would Applejack respond if I told her I committed suicide? Would she think I was insane or mentally troubled? Or even a mentally incapacitated freak?

"Is that so..." responded Applejack.

I had nodded very, very slowly, almost forcing myself to nod – just a bit. It's like an entire thinking process went through my head while I nodded. First off, I thought that if I had nodded quickly, Applejack would assume something wasn't quite right, but if I had nodded slowly, maybe Applejack would show signs of compassion and understanding towards my...condition, I guess would be the word to use here.

Turns out that she did understand my situation, strange as it sounds. She wrapped her hoof around my neck – my emerald green neck – while starting to hug me.

"It must've been just awful to go through what you just gone through, partner." Applejack quietly muttered.

_You have no idea, Applejack..._I thought to myself.

"How could you be so calm right now?" Applejack questioned.

I had a hard time answering that. I was calm, just on the outside, but on the inside, that was an entirely different story. Inside, I was trembling with the biggest of fears, mainly why I was here, but also how I present myself towards others and how I go about adjusting to my new life.

"I'm not, Applejack," I quietly responded, "I mean, I am on the outside, but on the inside, I'm just trembling with fear; fears that I just can't seem to explain."

"Ah thought so..." Applejack finished, pulling herself back from me.

I gave off a false smile, one that you couldn't tell unless you really knew me. Applejack seemed to buy it, though, as we continued trotting down the dirt path towards the nearest town – Ponyville, to be exact. I believe Applejack said she was taking me to go meet her friends – Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, I believe she told me.

Memorization wasn't hard. In fact, it was fairly easy for me. Memorizing multiple names at one time was a challenge though. Frankly, I sort of forgot the names of the three creatures from before – though I never brought that up with Applejack.

Something about walking, trotting, whatever it is, down this dirt path seemed familiar, like I've seen this somewhere before. Perhaps my younger sister knew something about this.

Oh, that reminds me. I completely forgot to tell you about my younger sister. Her name was Ariana and she was the sweetest little girl you could imagine. As my parents told my older sister and myself, Ariana was just simply perfect for someone of her age. Unfortunately, after both of our parents died, I went into a deep state of depression and Ariana did as well. Since I was unfit to care for her, I sent her to go live with my uncle from my father's side of the family. It was a tough decision to do, but it was for the better that she lived with him since he could care for her.

Anyway, Ariana used to love watching this show called My Little Pony and she always wanted me to watch it with her, telling me that it's what friends would do. Not wanting to object to the idea coming from a sweet and innocent seven-year-old girl, I agreed as we both sat on the couch and watched the three episodes that came on each and every day, together.

I remember how colorful it was; how friendly the characters were; how compassionate they were towards one another. I remember how each character got along – the majority of the time, that is – and how they always helped each other out, even if the situation was completely insane (i.e. Pinkie Pie).

Anyway, with Applejack and myself trotting down the path together, this path started becoming clearer and clearer to me. I finally figured out where I was (which took a long time, honestly), though I couldn't exactly figure out how I came here.

I was in the world of My Little Pony. What was it called...I honestly should know this. I know Ariana would know where I was. It wasn't Ponyville, that was the name of the main town in the world. I think it started with an E, but I can't quite place the name right now...

This is going to drive me insane, not knowing what the name of the world I am in is called...

Applejack was talking to me the entire time, but I had tuned out all noise from the outside world. Tuning back in, I managed to pick up where Applejack was in the conversation. Sort of.

"...newest Princess Equestria has to offer." finished Applejack.

That's it! It was Equestria! That's the name of the world I "spawned" in. As for the last thing Applejack said, I believe she was referring to Twilight Sparkle. I don't remember much but I know for a fact that Twilight Sparkle was Ariana's favorite pony and she was super thrilled about when she became, what they called, an alicorn – a pony princess. As for myself, my two favorite ponies (they tied for best pony for me) were Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was my favorite just because she was kind and shy, just like me and Rainbow Dash was also my favorite because of her athleticism and agility, just like me, though I'm sure she was probably faster than I was.

"So what's life like where you come from?" Applejack curiously asked.

"Where I come from," I quietly started, "we aren't shaped like this; ponies don't exist in my world. We work day and night, which isn't controlled like the sun and moon here are, to make a living. Speaking of the sun and moon, my home planet orbits the sun while the moon orbits my planet. I understand here that your princesses – Luna and Celestia, I believe there names are – use their magic to raise and lower both the sun and moon each and every day. Where I come from, we walk on two legs and pick things up with our hands, or your front hooves in this case now. We humans, as we're called, aren't as closely connected and friendly towards certain other humans as your kind is with each other. We are actually torn between each other, with severe quarrels called wars occurring between each other when things get too severe to handle with words."

"That sounds jus' terrible, Rob," Applejack offered.

"Not all the time," I replied, "but my life seemed to be just that..."

"Do y'all wish to go back home?"

"Honestly," I said, stopping to think about it for a quick second, "no. I want to stay here."

"Why?" questioned Applejack.

"I feel like I'd be more happier here than I would have been back home." I meekly replied.

"Well, if y'all are happy," Applejack said, wrapping a hoof around my neck once more, "then Ah'm happy, too!"

I smiled back, truthfully this time, as we continued down the path towards the little town known as Ponyville.


	4. Chapter 4

"Here we are, Rob," Applejack cheerfully said, "Ponyville!"

My eyes grew wide and twinkled, kind of like how a Japanese anime character does that quivering, watery eye thing sometimes. Ponyville was so colorful; so alive. The atmosphere felt different from just watching it through a television screen. Being here felt...comfortable is the word I'll use, but it feels something completely on a different level compared to comfortable.

"It's so nice..." I said after a while.

I looked around from building to building, noticing that they were all built almost identical to each other, with the exception of a few buildings and with the major exception being Twilight Sparkle's oak tree home – the Golden Oaks Library, I think it's called.

Applejack and I proceeded over towards Twilight's home first. It was surprisingly a very quick walk from the edge of town to Twilight's home. Then again, full-length distances were never shown in the show. Two things either happened during the show: either the traveling character was cut away from, cutting straight to the pony whom would be visited or the show would only show half of the journey (I assume half, but you could never be too sure of that). Getting the feeling and opportunity to actually travel the entire distance was pretty exciting, honestly.

Up ahead in the distance was Twilight's home. Upon reaching the front door, Applejack gently knocked her hoof on it before shunting backwards next to me.

"Y'all are gonna love Twilight, Rob," Applejack said to me, "she's smart and a great friend, much like yourself."

I smiled at the compliment Applejack just gave me as the door began opening up. Instead of the princess, however, before us stood a tiny purple-and-green dragon. I remembered seeing one in the show, but couldn't place my hand – err, hoof – on who this was. The tiny dragon gazed up at both Applejack and myself, only greeting Applejack. I guess since he didn't recognize me, he wouldn't engage in conversation with me, but that's just my philosophy.

"Hi there, Applejack!" The dragon spoke cheerfully. He glanced over towards me. "Who's your friend here?"

"Howdy, Spike," Applejack replied, "this here is Rob. He's brand new to these parts and Ah was jus' showin' him aroun' town. Is Twilight home?"

"Sure," replied the tiny dragon, Spike, "lemme just go get her."

With that said, Spike left to go find Twilight Sparkle, whom was located somewhere inside this...umm...house? Would she call it a house or a tree? I know Rainbow Dash referred to this as a tree, but I couldn't remember if Twilight or anybody...excuse me, anypony, else referred to this as a tree.

Anyway, Applejack stepped into the tree, myself closely following behind her. Inside Twilight's home, I managed to gaze around and see so many books on the shelves. Then again, this _was_ a library after all. I began skimming through the books, locating one that really caught my attention. This book was entitled "The History of Equestria: Everything You Need To Know About Equestria." I was just about to take it off the shelf and open it up, when I heard some...hoof-steps? Would that be correct terminology here?

Either way, I turned my head around and saw Princess Twilight Sparkle coming down the stairs, being closely followed by Spike. I came up beside Applejack as Twilight met us in the center of the bright, circular room. Twilight looked just as good as she did during her coronation (not to sound creepy). I could see that she was wearing her crown, which probably meant that she no longer was self-conscious about it. As for her new wings, I couldn't tell if she felt comfortable with them.

"Hello, Applejack," Twilight softly said. Like Spike, she then glanced over towards me. "Who is this?"

"This here is Robert, Twilight," Applejack reiterated, "he's new to Ponyville and Ah was jus' showin' him aroun'."

Twilight studied my every detail, something I probably should have done the second I got here. In short, she could tell more about me than maybe even I could in a few more seconds. The biggest thing that clouded my mind was that I did not know what species I was, Earth pony, Pegasus, or unicorn. I concluded that I could not be a Pegasus since I felt no wings attached to either side of me, so that ruled that out. The only thing I didn't know was if I was an "Earthy," as some people call Earth ponies, or a unicorn.

After a while of studying, Twilight looked me in the eye and began smiling at me.

"You have very beautiful eyes, Robert," Twilight complimented, "they look almost like emeralds."

That cleared my answer as to what my eye color was, though to be honest, that wasn't on my mind at all. Still, I didn't want to be rude, so I thanked Twilight for the very meaningful compliment, which was something I rarely ever received when I was living back home.

"Such lovely manners, too," continued Twilight, glancing over towards Applejack, "Rarity is sure going to love him, wouldn't you say?"

"He's humble and modest, Twilight," Applejack replied.

I began blushing. I had never received such compliments back home, so these actually meant a lot to me, even if they were just simplistic compliments.

"_And_ he's a unicorn!" Twilight exclaimed further, answering one of my main questions as to who I was.

"Yeah, about that," I softly spoke.

"You sound like how Fluttershy would speak." Twilight cut in. "Are you a shy pony?"

"Just a little bit," I answered back, having a little more confidence showing in the sound of my voice.

"It's alright," Twilight continued, "you'll open up like she did over time, I'm sure of it."

"Twilight knows pretty much everythin' there is to know, Rob," Applejack chimed in, "so Ah'm sure she's right."

"I'm sure, as well," I said, "might I ask you a quick question, Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

"But, of course," answered Twilight, "and please, do call me Twilight. I'm not entirely comfortable being called _Princess_ Twilight Sparkle just yet."

"If you insist," I replied.

"Thank you," thanked Twilight, "now, what was it you wanted to ask?"

"As you can quite very well notice, I am indeed a unicorn, much like yourself...I mean, like you were. However, I seem to be having trouble with...this sounds silly..."

"It doesn't sound silly at all, Robert," Twilight insisted, "were you just about to ask me if I may help you out with your magic?"

I gulped for a quick second, fortunately short enough so that nopony else noticed, "Yes, I was. However, the preceding story I would have told you in detail is not true."

"What do you mean?" asked a curious Twilight.

I began to let out a long, unsatisfied sigh, unsure if what I was about to reiterate (again) would make any sense to Twilight. I'm quite surprised that Applejack understood me fully, though I still don't know why she understood. Looking over towards Applejack, I slowly closed my eyes and began telling my entire story once more.

"Twilight," I started, "can you promise me that you won't freak out with what I'm about to say?"

"Of course," Twilight replied without any sort of hesitation, "but why do you ask?"

I sighed once more, just not as long and as hard as the previous sigh.

"Because what I'm about to tell you is going to sound completely and utterly insane."


	5. Chapter 5

"...and that's pretty much all there is I need to tell you."

Twilight Sparkle was astounded by the unusual (and kinda creepy) story I just finished. I made it a mission not to leave out any details of it and I believe that it came out nicely - for the most part, that is. I did leave out the word suicide and substituted it for killed in my story, but I did that to Applejack as well, so it was all in good timing...or wording...or whatever.

Anyway, I left Twilight in amazement. How could I tell? Her jaw was dropped fully and was hanging on to every single detail. I glanced over towards Applejack, whom appeared as if she would burst out laughing at any second.

"Y'all should look at the look on yer face, Twilight," Applejack spoke through her amusing giggling.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I paid my attention from the story I just spoke to Twilight's befuddled look. It wasn't nice, but I couldn't help it. Fighting back the chuckles, I managed to get something out.

"Speechless, are we Twilight?" I asked.

Twilight shook her head rigorously, snapping her out of any trance she may have previously been in (hopefully it wasn't from the evil enchantress who does evil dances). Finally, she had begun answering my question.

"That's sure quite a story, Robert," she slowly started, "I'm sure Princess Celestia will enjoy hearing about it. You know, if you want to share it with her that is."

"You can share it with whoever you want, Twilight," I replied, "it doesn't bother me at all."

"I'll start preparing a letter immediately," the little dragon, Spike, chimed.

"And make sure you capture every detail within that letter, Spike," Twilight continued.

With that said, Spike travelled upstairs and got a jump start on the letter to Princess Celestia. Suddenly, there came a knock on the door. Twilight calmly and collectively opened up the door to reveal three other ponies, an Earth pony and two Pegasus ponies. I immediately recognized them all, especially the Pegasus ponies. My eyes grew wide (again) as they entered the room.

"Hey, Twilight!" The three of them said in unison.

"Hi, girls," replied Twilight, "how are you three doing today?"

"Umm...I'm fine..." A palely colored yellow Pegasus pony softly spoke.

My ears twitched up upon hearing this pony's voice. It was the sweet, elegant voice of one of my favorite ponies - Fluttershy!

Looking over towards the other two ponies that came inside, I noticed that the cutie mark on one of them - the Pegasus, to be more specific - was a rainbow colored bolt. I knew that only one Pegasus had a cutie mark such as that, and that was Rainbow Dash!

"How about you, Rainbow?" Twilight asked the Pegasus.

"I'm feeling totally awesome today!" replied Rainbow Dash.

Honestly, I don't know how many bronies would pay to be in this situation I was in right now, you know, with the exception of the hardships and tough choices I had to make in order to get here, but you know...it is what it is.

What it is...

Looking over towards the final pony, a pink Earth pony, I immediately noticed a hyper active motive coming from her. Nobody needed to explain to me who this was. Anyone could clearly see and identify who this pony was, who was currently bouncing up and down in place from sheer excitement.

"How about you, Pinkie Pie?" Twilight chuckled, watching the party pony bounce in place.

"Super duper fun, Twilight!" Replied the pink pony.

I couldn't help but utter more chuckles, dragging the attention away from Twilight and attracting it to me, something I wasn't comfortable with, honestly.

"Who's that?" I heard Pinkie Pie ask.

I opened my eyes and found that Pinkie's face was right up against mine. Pinkie's entire head filled my line of vision and, honestly, that can be a bit too much pink for me to handle at this close range.

"Hi!" Pinkie shouted. "What's your name?"

I gulped for a second. I mean, Pinkie was just being Pinkie but this was something I was NOT used to, even if I knew the motives of this fun-tastic Earth pony.

Looking into her blue eyes was somewhat hypnotic - soothing even. However, after a while, I began to explain myself to the three new ponies who had just stepped foot - I mean hoof - into Twilight's home.

"My name is Robert," I started before awkwardly stopping.

Applejack noticed the awkward silence I was offering and decided to help out with the explanations.

"Ya see," she started, "Rob here isn't from here,"

"Right," chimed Twilight, "Robert is originally a hum man. Am I saying that right, Robert?"

"Close, Twilight," I called over, "it's pronounced hugh-men, spelt h-u-m-a-n."

"Right," continued Twilight, "anyway, he came to our world after a tragic event occurred in his world."

Rainbow Dash glared at me, sort of giving me a cold, hard stare. Fluttershy was doing the same, but not as intensely as Rainbow Dash was. Eventually, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Tragic event, huh?" She questioned, "like what?"

"I was killed in my world and came here." I boldly replied. I probably should've added a bit of emotion to that response but, once again, it is what it is.

Rainbow Dash stared bluntly at me, jaw dropped from my choice of words. Fluttershy, on the other hand, had her front hooves held up against her mouth and her eyes were wide from shock.

Some tense silence slowly passed by before Twilight picked up the conversation and introductions once more.

"Anyway," started Twilight, "Robert here is new to our world and seems to be enjoying it fully, isn't that right, Robert?"

I smiled while giving my feedback on my time here in Equestria, more specifically, Ponyville.

"I love being here," I answered with a large smile, "it's so much better than back home and plus, I have a feeling ill be a lot happier here than I ever was back home!"

"Well," Rainbow Dash started after a while more had passed, "any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine!"

With that said, Rainbow Dash hovered closer to the ground and held out her hoof, signaling for a hoof-bump, which I gladly took part in. Bumping her hoof, I smiled and thanked Rainbow Dash for the compliment and compassion. Fluttershy was still being shy, which didn't bother me all that much since it took some time for her and Twilight to become friends when they first met. Pinkie Pie immediately tugged at my neck and wrapped both her hooves around me for a large, somewhat suffocating, yet calm hug.

Trust me when I say this: I can definitely get used to living here!


	6. Chapter 6

"We're sooo happy you are here, especially since Nightmare Night is just around the corner!"

The pink pony, Pinkie Pie, was bouncing up and down in place from sheer excitement about this "Nightmare Night" fiasco. Unaware of what it was, I tilted my head and gave out a confused grunt.

"What's "Nightmare Night?"" I asked, motioning my hooves as I said the name.

"Seriously?" Asked Pinkie Pie. "You don't know what Nightmare Night is?"

I shook my head no.

"Now, now, Pinkie," Twilight started, "he is from another world. Perhaps on his world there is no such thing."

Pinkie Pie looked down in disappointment, completely forgetting that I was not of this world and did not know the ways of Equestria.

Or at least all of them.

Twilight smiled, forgiving Pinkie Pie of her actions, as did I.

"Nightmare Night happens once every year, Robert," Twilight started.

"It's the perfect time of the year to play pranks on everypony!" added Rainbow Dash.

Twilight shot a mean look at Rainbow Dash, knowing quite well that that wasn't the true reason to celebrate Nightmare Night.

"Actually," Twilight hissed, "Nightmare Night is a night where young fillies and colts go-"

"And me!" Pinkie Pie quickly added, cutting Twilight off.

"And...Pinkie," Twilight paused, "but they go out and collect candy for Nightmare Moon, offering it as a means of peace so that Equestria will be safe for another year from the wrath of Nightmare Moon."

That sounded oddly familiar the more I thought about it. Nightmare Night, Nightmare Moon? Those definitely sounded familiar, like I've heard them before. I know I've heard Nightmare Moon before but Nightmare Night is a bit hazy in my memory, to be honest.

"You said children go around and collect candy?" I asked after a thinking for a while.

"That's right," Twilight answered.

"And the children take the candy they've collected and offer it up to a statue of Nightmare Moon in the Everfree Forest as a sign of peace," I continued, "right?"

"Right."

"That sounds like a holiday we celebrate back home called Halloween." I replied.

"Hal-O-Een?" The group of six ponies simultaneously asked.

"Halloween," I started, "is a holiday celebrated on the last day of October where little children dress up in costumes and go around collecting candy."

"And do they offer the candy they've collected to somepony?" Fluttershy quietly asked.

"No," I answered, "they keep whatever they collect for themselves or to share with someone else."

"Sounds..." paused Rainbow Dash.

"...peculiar." finished Twilight.

"How so?" I asked, a hint of curiosity showing in the sound of my voice.

"Well," started Twilight, "doesn't it sound a bit weird that nopony makes any kind of offering?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, not sure of what exactly Twilight was getting at.

"Well," continued Twilight, "if nopony makes an offering, doesn't anything happen?"

I had to sit there and actually think about that logic. I mean, if they don't offer up candy to Nightmare Moon, she will come back and "gobble up" the children. However, if they offer up their candy, Equestria will be safe for another year, at least according to Zecora. However, since we didn't offer candy to anyone (but trick-or-treaters, obviously), nothing bad ever happened that I can recall.

After some extensive thinking, I finally shook my head and answered, "Not that I can think of...no."

The other six sat back and glanced between each other. Twilight "shrugged" her front hooves and let that comment slide - for now, at least.

"Anyway," started Rarity after some tense silence filled the room, "I always look fabulous in my costume on Nightmare Night."

"I look awesome!" Rainbow Dash chimed.

"I look silly!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"I look magical." Twilight added.

"I don't do Nightmare Night..." said a very quiet Fluttershy.

That last comment stuck to me like a bug to a spider web would. I asked Fluttershy why she wouldn't partake in Nightmare Night.

"Visitors aren't welcome on Nightmare Night!" shrieked Fluttershy.

"But...why?" I repeated.

Fluttershy gave me a cold stare and I immediately dropped the subject. Instead, Twilight asked me how I look on Nightmare Night, though I knew that she meant Halloween.

"Personally, I haven't taken part in Halloween for a while." I admitted. "Although, the last year I did something, I dressed up as a bloodthirsty zombie."

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash screamed.

I smiled a bit to know that one of my favorite ponies accepted and liked what I did last on Halloween.

"So, what are you going to do this year?" Pinkie Pie asked, signs of curiosity showing in her voice.

"I'm going to dress up as one of my idols back home." I replied.

"Oh?" Rarity questioned. "And who might that be?"

I smiled and looked up into the sky - or in this case, the ceiling. Glancing back down at the six ponies, I told them who exactly I was talking about.

"Slash."

"Slash?" The six simultaneously said.

"Yup," I replied, "Slash."

"Who is that?" Twilight questioned.

"Back home, Slash was a skilled guitarist who played in a rock band called Guns N' Roses. Growing up, he was the real reason I taught myself how to play guitar." I paused for a quick second before picking up again. "I've always wanted to dress up like him and be just like him."

"So what's stopping you, darling?" asked Rarity.

"He has like this really curly black hair that this emerald green name can't touch," I answered, "plus he also has a top hat that's almost impossible to find."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance, Robert," offered Rarity.

"You'd do that for me, Miss Rarity?" an astonished self just asked. "Some...pony you just met?"

"But, of course, Robert," answered Rarity, "after all, that's what friends do for each other."

I felt touched by those words. I had been here for not even a day, and these six ponies consider myself to be one of their friends.

That suicide was possibly the best decision I've ever made.


	7. Chapter 7

I smiled with delight as Rarity used her magic to construct a top hat that looked somewhat like Slash's top hat. I mean, I had to provide approximate dimensions of the hat, which weren't the best since I never actually seen the hat in person, just over television waves or on the internet (once we got it, that is).

"And...qu'elle est terminé." Rarity complied while putting the top hat on top of my head.

"What?" I asked, unknown of what she had said.

Rarity giggled as I asked that. I looked back and tilted my head ever so slightly, showing even more signs of confusion.

"It means, 'It is finished,' darling," she told me.

I blushed a bit, a little embarrassed that I failed to put two and two together and come to a conclusion of what it meant. I rubbed the back of my neck with my (very flexible) front left hoof and proceeded to ask what language that was.

"It is French, Robert," Rarity answered in her high-classed English voice.

I, honestly, was amazed that Rarity knew French so...so...I don't know, but she knew it and she knew it well.

"That's amazing, Miss Rarity," I complimented.

"Such good manners, Robert," responded Rarity, "thank you very much."

"You're quite welcome," I replied. "Are there any other languages you're familiar with?"

"Just English and French, Robert," Rarity answered, using her magic to remove the top hat and place a wig atop my head, "how about you?"

"I know English, my dominant language, a little bit of Spanish, French, and Japanese," I responded.

"Such a wide range of languages," a pleased and impressed Rarity stated, using her magic to exchange one wig with another, "might I receive a demonstration of ces langues, s'il vous plaît [these languages, please]?"

I smiled, turning my head towards Rarity so that I may "provide a demonstration," if you will.

"Je ne sais pas, mademoiselle [I do not know, miss]." I chuckled, speaking in French.

"Oh," Rarity gasped, "please, continue."

"¿Estás seguro de que usted puede entender lo que estoy diciendo [Are you sure you can understand what I'm saying]?" I asked in Spanish.

"Perhaps I may," Rarity replied.

"あなたの日が起こっているか、希少ミス (Anata no hi ga okotte iru ka, kishō misu)?" I asked in Japanese.

"What does that mean?" the curious, high-society unicorn asked.

I chuckled, answering the question that was asked upon me. "It means, 'How is your day going, Miss Rarity?'"

"Simply fabulous, darling," Rarity answered, referring to both my question and the wig that she placed atop my head. "There, perfect."

"Complete?" I asked, revealing hints of curiosity in my voice.

"Fini [finished]." Rarity said.

Using her magic, she dragged a mirror in front of me and I gazed upon the completed outfit I was to wear on Nightmare Night. I was awe struck at the complexity and the detailing of both the custom-made top hat and the wig, both of which appeared to match the way Slash had his top hat and hair almost perfectly. Now that I looked like Slash, all I needed was Les Gibson guitar, the main guitar he used when he played live.

"How do you like it?" Rarity asked me.

"I love it, Miss Rarity," I answered back, offering her a content and satisfied smile.

Rarity then clapped her front hooves together as she started helping me off the pedestal I was standing on. She took off the wig and the top hat using her magic and set them aside for me.

"Come now," she started, "let us visit Twilight once more. If I recall, she did say that she would help you out with magic, seeing how you're a unicorn now with no ability to use the magic."

"Thank you, Miss Rarity," I replied.

"You may address me simply as Rarity, darling," she offered.

"Thank you, Rarity," I answered as we left the Carousel Boutique.

Walking off of the property and turning left down the dirt road, I proceeded to ask Rarity what magic means to a unicorn.

"Well, darling," Rarity started, "a unicorn with classe has the most beautiful magic. A unicorn must never use their magic for horrid purposes. A unicorn must be stylish, classy, take _pride_ in their magic. A unicorn must embrace their magic – true magic that they are born with."

"So magic and unicorns go hand in hand, right?" I asked.

"'Hand in hand?'"

"It's an expression back home," I replied, "It means that they go together, correct?"

"Absolutely, Robert," answered Rarity.

I smiled at Rarity, then turned my head back forward and glanced at Twilight's oak tree home, which was conveniently close to the Carousel Boutique, though the distance was never shown on the show. We approached the front door and Rarity knocked ever so elegantly on it. A few seconds later, Twilight opened up the door and escorted us both inside her home.

Inside, Twilight was alone, with Spike tending to his cleaning in the upstairs room. Twilight guided us to the center of the large, circular, wooden room and the turned back around to face both me and Rarity. Rarity left my side and stood next to Twilight, also facing me in the process.

"Are you ready to learn the ways of magic, Robert?" Twilight asked me, Rarity smiling at me in the process.

Looking up at my horn, I nodded my head and confidently spoke, "Yes, I am, Twilight."

Rarity glanced over towards Twilight, whom did the same, then back at me. An elegant magenta aura then covered Twilight's horn while a modest blue aura covered Rarity's horn.

"Welcome to your life, Robert," Twilight spoke to me as a beam of magic shot out from both her horn and Rarity's horn and wrapped around me.

"Seek inside yourself for the magic within you and drag that out, Robert," Twilight told me.

I closed my eyes and tried very, very hard to access the magic within my body. Drops of sweat began falling from the sides of my face as I was trying very hard to feel the magic embrace my horn, but had no luck in doing so. As I began to stop trying, I felt the magic from within myself embrace my entire body and navigate its way to my horn. I had accessed my magic and successfully navigated it to my horn.

"What a magnificent emerald aura, Robert," Rarity admired.

I smiled as I glanced up at my horn and saw the bottom portion of the emerald aura embrace my horn. I was simply excited beyond words as I began to access my magic.

"Now you are a true unicorn, Robert," Twilight told me, "now let's work on controlling your magic and performing basic magic tricks."


	8. Chapter 8

"Well I'll be, darling, you are sure a fast learner."

"I was the best in my class back home, much like how Twilight is to Princess Celestia, pupil wise, I mean," I replied.

Twilight blushed, "You're too kind, Robert,"

"No, you are," I said, "both of you. You two are going out of your ways to help me with my magic - some...pony you just met!"

"Here," began Twilight, "it's what friends do for each other."

"That's right, darling," chimed Rarity, "and a friend in need is a friend indeed."

I smiled largely, grateful that I had become great friends with two very friendly (and pretty) ponies, more specifically, a high-society unicorn, and a royal alicorn.

"Now, let's put your magic to the test," Twilight challenged.

I gulped. If Twilight meant what I think she meant, then...well let's just say my emerald color would be stained with bruises and with red blood stains. I know Twilight wasn't a violent pony, but her magic was ferocious - one you did not want to go up against in a duel or battle. That was a fact.

"Do you mean, a magic duel?" I feebly asked.

Twilight chuckled, stepping next to me and putting her hoof on my shoulder (odd right? Four legs but still have shoulders...well, it's odd to me, at least).

"Yes, Robert," she assured me, "a magic duel,"

"A-against you?" I stuttered.

"Yup." Twilight smiled.

I started becoming weak in my knees (all four of them) as that penetrated my ears. I glanced over at Twilight and noticed an unusually large grin on her face. I gazed over at Rarity and noticed she had her hoof covering up her mouth, giggling in the process. I looked back at Twilight (who was slightly shorter than I was), and noticed that she had begun to burst out laughing. I was ultimately left dazed and confused.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Darling," started Rarity, "did you really believe that you would duel Twilight magically?"

I honestly nodded very, very slowly.

"No offense to you, Robert," Twilight started, "but in case you don't know, my special ability is magic, so a duel with you would have gone very quickly."

"No need to brag about it, Princess Twilight," I teased, knowing quite well that she hated being called that.

Twilight shot a mean look at me as I cleverly smiled back at her.

"Is there a problem, Twilight?" I playfully asked.

Twilight looked down at my front left hoof and hit it with her right front hoof, something that didn't bother me at all. It was all for fun and games after all.

"Anyway," Twilight started, "it's getting a tad late. I think I'm gonna call it a night."

"Indeed, it is getting a tad dark outside," responded Rarity, "I wish to you a good slumber for tonight, Twilight."

"Goodnight, _Princess."_ I playfully teased while following Rarity out the doorway.

She gave me a stare that looked like a playful cold eye, if that makes any sense, before I used my newly developed magic to shut the door behind us.

Yawning, I turned my attention back towards Rarity, who's long, elegant mane was sparkling in the midst of the night.

"Where will you stay, darling?" She asked me ever so quietly.

"Je ne sais pais, Rarity," I replied.

"Hmm...perhaps you could stay with me until you find yourself a quality home here in Ponyville," offered Rarity, "how does that sound?"

"That sounds spectacular, Rarity," I replied, "thank you for your kind hospitality."

"You're very welcome, Robert," Rarity cheerfully spoke.

For the remainder of the journey back to the Carousel Boutique, both Rarity an myself remained silent. Once we got "home," Rarity opened up the door with her magic and turned on the lights. Soon after, she had showed me to the room I'd be staying in and helped me make the bed.

After getting in my bed for the night, I used my magic to drag up the sheets as Rarity started for the door.

"If there is anything you need," she said before closing the door, "just please let me know."

"Thank you, again, for your hospitality, Rarity," I spoke as the door shut.

"It's the least I could do," Rarity responded before the door fully shut.

That night seemed to be a busy one up in my mid. After the door had shut, my imagination started running wild and was taking over reality in my line of vision. I had fallen asleep quite briefly this time around, which was a wonder since it always took me a while to fall asleep back home, though when I was asleep, I 'was' asleep.

_Take me away,_ I thought, _to my serenity,_

* * *

"Ha! Did you really think you could beat me? How pathetic!"

What went wrong? Why was I hurting so much?

"Is that all you have? The Elements of Harmony? Should change your name to the Elements of _Lose_ony!"

The Elements of Harmony? If this...this...thing was fighting the Elements of Harmony, then why was I hurting?

"And you! The Element of Happiness! You're the weakest of them all! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

For some reason, the being pointed at me and my severely beaten body. I coughed very hard, then proceeded looking around. Laying on the ground all around me were the other Elements of Harmony, all six of them.

My jaw immediately dropped, and some blood started pouring out from my mouth. Was I dying?

I looked up at the shadow of the being who had defeated the Elements of Harmony as well as myself. I recognized a hoof hanging in the air above me as the being began conversing with me.

"Always remember: you were the weakest Element of them all!"

And with that said, the being's hoof came crashing down onto my neck and head. I had passed out from exhaustion and loss of blood afterward, though my mind was still trying to process what exactly was going on.


	9. Chapter 9

"Robert, darling! Dear me..."

I could hear some voices inside my head; voices that sounded an awful lot like Rarity's voice. I was stunned, unaware of what exactly was happening around me.

"Robert, dear," continued Rarity, "you have to wake up!"

Wake up? I was asleep? Then why were the voices so clear? Last thing I remember was myself getting beaten harshly along with the Elements of Harmony. I remember that a being defeated us - a tall one, for that matter. I remember him coming up to me and telling me, the Element of Happiness, that I was the weakest Element of them all. Two things shocked me in that preposition. The first was that the Elements of Harmony were defeated. The second was that I was the Element of Happiness, an Element I've never even heard of!

"Forgive me for this, Robert," I heard Rarity say.

Forgive her for-

_SPLASH!_

Yowch! That was hot as hell!

"What? Huh? Wha-I'm awake!"

"Thank heaven, too," Rarity told me, "you were having the most horrid of nightmares, Robert. Are you alright?"

I climbed out of the bed and shook myself dry. Honestly, wet fur doesn't feel quite right. Scratch that; it doesn't feel good at all. I just wish that I hadn't wet the items that surrounded me, including Rarity - a bit. I opened my eyes and saw Rarity and her somewhat displeased look on her face as I saw her stylish mane get wet.

"Oh my!" I exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Rarity,"

"It's quite alright, Robert," replied Rarity, "I guess I did deserve it for wetting you in your sleep."

"My apologies, though, Rarity," I fixated.

"Were you having a nightmare, dear?" Rarity confronted me.

I looked away, shutting my eyes slowly.

"I'm sorry, dear," Rarity told me.

"No," I replied, "it's fine. And yes, I did have a nightmare..."

"Care to talk about it, Robert?"

"I need to tell someone, so sure," I said.

We went downstairs into the living room and say down on a couch-type thing. I mean, it looked like a couch, but it also looked like a really fancy bench. Is there a happy medium between the two that I don't know about? Anyway, we both sat down and I started sighing.

"Where to begin..." I started.

"Start anywhere you want, darling," Rarity said, wrapping a hoof around my neck and positioning herself closer to me.

I smiled slightly. It wasn't a false smile, though it also wasn't truly a true one either. I looked up towards the ceiling and started to recall my bizarre dream.

"For some reason," I started, "you - and by you I mean the Elements of Harmony - were in the midst of a battle with a tall being that I couldn't fully identify."

"Really?" Rarity asked, showing signs of surprise in her voice.

"Yes," I continued, "I was there as well and, according to the being, I was the Element of Happiness, which is an Element I've never even heard of!"

"Neither have I, darling," Rarity chimed.

"Anyway, the being defeated you as well as me and he came up to me." I paused for a quick second to regain my breath. "The being towered over me and pointed to my blood-spattered body. He told me that I, the Element of Happiness, was the weakest Element of them all!"

"That's peculiar, Robert," Rarity told me.

"How so?" I immediately asked.

"Well," continued Rarity, "you clearly aren't weak at all. No, you're strong."

"Thank you, Rarity," I meekly replied, "but I'm not so sure about that."

"You are, darling," Rarity assured, "don't be so hard on yourself."

I smiled a bit more as Rarity complimented me.

"As for you and your Element of 'Happiness,'" Rarity motioned her front hooves as she said that, "I've never heard of such a thing. Perhaps we should see if Twilight would know anything on that."

"You think she would?" I asked doubtfully. "I mean, I've never heard of an Element like that. All I know is that there are six elements and that you and your friends represent each of them. Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter, you are the Element of Generosity, and Twilight is the Element of Magic."

"You know your stuff," Rarity replied, revealing tones of amazement and excitement in her voice, causing me to blush a bit.

"Thanks." I said while rubbing the back of my neck.

"Come," Rarity told me, "let's visit Twilight and see what she knows."

We then stood up and proceeded outside. Rarity was preparing herself to shut the door with her magic, but I stopped her from doing so.

"Allow me," I insisted.

Using my magic (which, on a side note, I absolutely loved the emerald aura it had), I gained control of the door and slowly closed it. I made sure to be as delicate as possible when moving it since Twilight told me that any kind of distraction to a unicorn while they are performing magic can be dangerous.

"Such nice manners," exclaimed Rarity.

I smiled brightly as we began to visit Twilight to see if she knew anything about my dream and the Element of Happiness.

Once again, the walk went by fault quickly (I keep forgetting that full-length distances were never shown on the show). We approached Twilight's home and Rarity knocked ever so elegantly on the door, just like yesterday. Within a few seconds, Twilight opened the door and greeted the two of us.

"Hello there," Twilight praisingly told us.

"Hi Twilight," I replied.

"Good day, Twilight," Rarity added, "May we come in?"

"Of course." Twilight answered, leading us inside. "What's up?"

"Well," started Rarity, "Robert here had this unusual dream last night and he wanted to find out more about it."

"Really?" Twilight asked, turning her attention towards me. "How weird?"

"Really weird, Twilight," I staggered.

"Care to explain?" Twilight excitedly asked.

"Well," I reiterated, "last night, I dreamt about the Elements of Harmony. However, they were battling a being that I couldn't identify and had defeated you. I was there as well and the being also defeated me. When he came up to me, he pointed towards my blood-spattered body and told me that the Element of Happiness, whom he earlier identified was me, was the weakest Element of them all. After that, I awoke to...well let's leave it at I woke up."

Rarity glanced over and began to blush a bit. Twilight, however, idolized each word I said as if they came from the Princess or something. After a short while, she sat back and began to say something.

"I must say," she started, l"that is an interesting dream. What really interests me the most is the Element of Happiness. I myself have never heard of such an Element. Perhaps Princess Celestia has. I'll have Spike write a letter to Princess Celestia later, asking if she has any knowledge on that. As for the dream, it is currently very unlikely that somepony could defeat us now. Has it happened in the past before? Of course. Now, though, that is extremely unlikely that such an event will occur."

"Hope you're right, Twilight," I replied.

Was she right? Are the Elements of Harmony unbeatable now? And what about me? Is there such a thing as the Element of Happiness and am I the Element holder?


	10. Chapter 10

Hard Times – Part 10

"Spike," called Twilight, "could you come down here please?"

"In a minute!" returned Spike.

Twilight turned her head back towards Rarity and I and began telling us something else.

"We'll ask Princess Celestia now rather than later on in the day." Twilight told us. "Who knows...she may be available now and may not be later. Plus, the sooner we contact her, the better."

Silence trickled down in the room shortly afterwards – awkward silence. Spike eventually came downstairs and positioned himself next to Rarity.

"You didn't tell me that Rarity was here..." Spike whispered, hearts filling his eyes.

"Thought it would be better if we kept that a surprise, my little Spikey-Wikey." Rarity calmly answered, placing a hoof on top of Spike's head.

"Oh, yeah..." a lovestruck Spike quietly said.

I saw Twilight roll her eyes before dragging a paper and quill over to Spike with her magic.

"Focus, Casanova," Twilight said, "I need you to write an important letter to the Princess."

"I thought the days of reporting your lessons on friendship were over," Spike replied, "why are you still writing to her?"

"It _is _nice to write to see how she is doing, Spike," scolded Twilight, "and this isn't a letter about the lessons on friendship. I need you to write to Princess Celestia regarding important information."

"'Important' information?" questioned Spike, "Like what? You learning how to use your wings?"

Both me and Rarity couldn't help but chuckle as Spike said that. It was obvious that Twilight had trouble adjusting to her wings and that she chose not to use them often. However, it was a funny joke that Spike told us, even if it ended up with Twilight giving him a cold stare.

"No, Spike," Twilight sarcastically spoke, "Robert here had an unusual nightmare last night about a seventh Element of Harmony, the Element of Happiness, an Element nopony has even heard of. I want to write to Princess Celestia regarding if she knows anything about that."

"Sounds odd," Spike opinionated, "but it's your letter,"

"Ready, Spike?" Twilight asked, regarding if he was ready to write the letter.

Spike rose the quill up to the paper, showing Twilight that he was ready to write down the letter.

"Dear Princess Celestia," started Twilight, "my new friend, Robert, a unicorn, recently had a nightmare in which he was presented with a seventh Element of Harmony, to which he was the Element bearer. This seventh Element, the Element of Happiness, is something that I'm not too familiar with or even heard of. Does this particular Element exist and, if so, do you have any background knowledge about the Element of Happiness? Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Twi-light...Spar-kle." Spike reiterated. "Got it!"

"Good," praised Twilight, "now send it to her."

"Now, Twilight?" questioned Spike.

"Yes, Spike," Twilight answered, "now."

"It's best that we send it now," Rarity chimed, "for all we know, the Princess could be free at this very moment."

Spike rolled up the scroll and put a seal on it. Opening up a window, he breathed fire on it, and sent the letter on it's merry way up to Canterlot. Twilight glanced back towards both Rarity and myself and assured us that the Princess will reply with an answer immediately.

"You sound so sure of yourself, Twilight," I offered.

"I know that the Princess always takes immediate action when I write something to her," Twilight happily replied, "I am...I mean, I was her star student after all."

Don't we know, right?

"What do you say we pay Pinkie Pie a visit while we wait for a reply from the Princess," offered Twilight.

"Sounds good to me," I answered.

"I suppose it will make the time fly by faster, as it were." Rarity added.

"Yum..." Spike mumbled, licking his lips, "a trip to Sugar Cube Corner? Count me in!"

We all then left the Golden Oaks Library in a jiffy as Twilight showed us outside. When we were all outside, Twilight used her magic to close the door, turning to the rest of us as we began trotting down the road to Sugar Cube Corner.

"I hope they have my favorite there..." Spike fantasized.

"Oh? What's your favorite, Spike?" I asked.

"Sapphire Cupcakes..." Spike said, mouth drooling from his fantasized image.

I looked at Rarity and Twilight as we began to smile and laugh.

Along the way, we heard back from Princess Celestia, whom had replied by sending a letter of her own, which appeared through Spike (as strange as it sounds reading it, it was more unusual writing it).

"I told you that the Princess will take immediate action," Twilight told me.

"I didn't doubt you _that_ much, Twilight," I replied, sticking my tongue out playfully at her.

Spike reached down and picked up the letter, unraveled the scroll, and began to read it aloud to the three of us.

"Dear Twilight," Spike began, "I flattered that you still consider yourself my faithful student, though as you may as well know, that is not true anymore. Like I told you, you are still my student, just not in the same way anymore. Rather, we are your students now. As for your request about a seventh Element of Harmony, I must admit that this is true; there does exist a seventh Element. It was foretold that the seventh Element bearer will travel to us from another realm. The seventh Element will be the most crucial Element when powerful villains arise and join together. The Elements of Harmony you're familiar with are just six of the seven Elements that exist in our sacred world. As for the location of the Element of Happiness, I do not know that entirely. It is located somewhere within the Everfree Forest, past the location of the original six Elements you originally found. If it isn't too much of a hassle, I would like for you and your friends, Robert included, to visit me in Canterlot as soon as possible. With regards, Princess Celestia."

_What a long letter..._ I thought.

Turning towards Twilight, she had a determined look on her face, telling all of us that we should depart for Canterlot as quickly as possible.

"Based off of what the Princess told us," began Twilight, "the future of Equestria could be at stake here!"


	11. Chapter 11

Hard Times – Part 11

"There's the train!" Twilight shouted.

We, and by we I mean Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and myself, had waited for the next train to Canterlot at the Ponyville Train Station for approximately fifteen minutes. The train was just as colorful as it had appeared in the show and the coaches seemed much bigger on the inside than they appeared on the outside.

"Ready to see Canterlot?" Twilight asked me, putting all worries aside for the moment.

"Well," I started, "seeing the capital of Equestria and getting a chance to meet absolute royalty, other than yourself, obviously, is a chance that clearly not every...pony gets."

"Not at all," Twilight replied.

I smiled at her answer, turning my head towards the window. The countryside on the outside was simply beautiful beyond words. Well, the only words that came to mind were stunning, colorful, warm, inviting, spectacular.

Back home in the north, the land was only like this during the dead of autumn, where the leaves fell, the temperature was simply perfect, and the crisp, cool mountainside was as colorful as can be. Autumn up in the north, near the Appalachian Mountains, was a beautiful time of the year, one that I'd certainly never forget, but always cherish.

The land passing by outside the train was just that, colorful, beautiful, and inviting. Watching it go by was making me feel like I was calm, in my serenity, in other words. I felt as if I was in my backyard, playing football like we used to do on Thanksgiving each year with my father, cousins, and co-workers (yes, we did occasionally invite co-workers over for Thanksgiving). Each year it would always be my father, two of my cousins, and myself against my other cousin and our co-workers. It would always be close, the game being decided by one or two points, but it definitely was fun and a wonderful experience that I'll always cherish.

"How are you enjoying your new life, Robert?" A curious Pinkie Pie asked.

I turned my attention from the outside world to Pinkie Pie, preparing to answer the intriguing question that she asked.

"It's an experience," I answered back, "I mean, it is truly an...enjoyable time here."

Nobody seemed to catch my sudden pause in between answering Pinkie's question. Nobody, except Twilight, that is.

"Why'd you pause, Robert?" She called out, causing everyone to glue their eyes on me.

I became nervous. I was not one for a speech or an answer, knowing that I was the one and only soul speaking in front of multiple ones. I never felt this way in front of my friends, but since I was still trying to connect with these ponies, a proposition went whizzing by in my head.

I thought that if I lied to them, I would lose the trust that I had built with each and every one of them however, if I told the truth, then perhaps my new friends would accept me and my answer. Or, it could backfire, and I lose them no matter what. I have never seen the second option shown in the show, so I figured that if I told the truth, they would accept my answer.

"Well?" Twilight asked.

"The reason for the pause was that, looking at the countryside outside," I started, "I began thinking about home, about the time I had spent with my family when they were alive. Taking that in was tough, causing me to pause for a short while, a while that nopony seemed to notice but you, Twilight. I honestly had a hard time taking that in without breaking tears so the pause was the next best thing. I'm sorry if I hurt anyponies feelings."

I noticed Twilight was left with an open jaw, either embarrassed or guilty for making me explain myself. After some time, she proceeded to ask me a question.

"Do you want to stay with us?" She asked me.

"I'd love to see home once more, but I can no longer do that since I was killed back home." I answered. "Honestly, I love being here, with all of you. It's just that..."

"...the memories of home make you homesick?" Rarity questioned.

"Just a bit..." I meekly replied.

The rest of the car was silent, all six ponies staring at me as I looked out the window.

"Back home," I sighed, "when I wasn't alone, I felt on top of the world." I turned my head back at the six welcoming ponies. "Then it slowly went downhill as, one by one, my family started shrinking in number. I'd rather not discuss how they...moved on, but the number of moves started adding up, last being mine." I looked back out the window. "The only remaining family member that I felt close to is my little sister, Ariana."

"Who's Ariana?" Pinkie Pie asked me.

_Uh oh,_ I thought, _I think I may be caught in a hole here..._

What was processing through my mind was that I was slightly being forced to break the fourth wall, which was something Pinkie Pie knew how to do and (only once) Twilight. If I had to explain who Ariana was, I'd definitely have to explain how she loved each of the ponies and if I did that, one of the six would ask me how Ariana knew who they were and then I'd be forced to explain that this world is a work of fiction, a false world, a created world. Would they understand?

"Umm...Ariana was my little sister..." I began. I decided to break the fourth wall and explain how this world, Equestria, was a work of fiction. "She loved each of you very much, her favorite being Twilight. When our parents...moved on, I was too depressed and unfit to take care of her, so I had her sent away to my uncle from my father's side of the family, a side I rarely knew or even engaged with."

Twilight offered her condolences as she used her magic to spawn a handkerchief and wipe the tears from my eyes.

"I'm sorry..." was all Twilight told me as the handkerchief spawned away.

"It's okay, Twilight," I replied.

I guess breaking the fourth wall went undetected this time around. I decided that it was best to not play with fire like that again as the train began pulling into the Canterlot Train Station.


	12. Chapter 12

"Here we are!" Twilight said.

"Canterlot!" Rarity chimed in her English sounding voice.

I stepped out of the coach and glanced around. Canterlot was huge! Much bigger than it appeared to be in the show!

"Do you like it, Robert?" Twilight asked, trying to hold back her giggles.

"It's amazing..." I answered in reply.

Looking around at the tall buildings almost felt as if I were back home. Every time we would go to New York City or Boston, the tall buildings always fascinated me beyond belief. I always wanted to live in a place like that but never found the opportunity to do so.

Snapping out of the trance I was in, I closely followed the group of ponies down the road, working our way towards the castle located at the far end of town.

"It's so beautiful," I said, breaking some silence.

"Isn't it?" Rarity added. "I've always dreamed of living here. The glamour, the sophistication! A pony of my standards should live here!"

"It is magical," Twilight spoke, "living here was absolutely amazing. Just being able to see the Princess raise and lower the sun and moon as a filly was amazing. Not only that, but living in the same town as the Princess is truly fantastic."

"Look," exclaimed Pinkie, "up ahead!"

Ahead of us was the astounding Canterlot Castle, home to both Princess Celestia and, my personal favorite, Princess Luna. Twilight looked over towards me and noticed my gleaming eyes as I was admiring the castle from top to bottom.

"So," started Twilight, "are you ready to meet the Princess face-to-face?"

"Absolutely, Twilight." I quickly replied.

Twilight smiled as she led all of us inside the castle. The halls were enormous inside the castle, appearing much bigger than how the outside of the castle portrayed them to be.

We saw plenty of castle guards on the way to the throne room and they all appeared to be very heavily trained and protective of themselves plus their immediate surroundings. A good number of them were Pegasus guards while there were a decent amount of unicorn guards as well.

A few minutes more had passed before we finally arrived at a large, double-wide, heavy looking door, guarded by two unicorns. Twilight approached one of them and started telling him something.

"Princess Celestia has requested the appearance of all of us, sir," she told him.

"Right away, Your Highness," replied the guard, using his magic to open up the doors.

The doors were embraced with a bright white aura, originating from both unicorns, as they slowly opened up the heavy doors. As soon as they were opened fully, we started going inside the room. The throne room was a long, colorful hallway, lined up with plenty of window panes, each of which told a different and unique story. The one window pane that really caught my eye was the one with the Elements of Harmony transformed Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna. For some reason, that pane stuck out more to me than the others, probably because it was the first accomplishment made by Twilight and her friends or maybe because Princess Luna was in it.

Either way, at the end of the throne room stood the two regal sisters, Princess Celestia, whom was positioned on a throne higher than that of her sister, Princess Luna.

"Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia started, "it's so wonderful to see you. How have things been as of late?"

"Everything is simply wonderful, Princess Celestia," replied Twilight.

"I see you've brought your new friend, Robert, if I remember correctly." continued Celestia.

"That's right, Princess," answered Twilight.

Celestia studied me very carefully, eyeballing me all over my emerald colored body. Finally, she spoke up.

"So you're the Robert I've hear so much about." Princess Celestia told me.

"Umm...th-that's right, Your Highness," I stammered.

Celestia giggled, "Calm down, my little pony," she told me, "there's no reason to be so nervous."

"Sorry..." I meekly replied.

Silence fell over for a short while, only to be broken up by Princess Luna.

"You're the one from the alternate realm then, are you not?" Princess Luna asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

Luna pointed a hoof at me, asking, "Are you the one from the alternate realm, Robert?"

"Umm...I guess so," I answered, "yes."

"Hmm..."

Luna seemed to gaze at me hard, almost as if she didn't trust me at all. I don't blame her, she did have a hard time fitting in with everyone back in Ponyville. Plus, she has been locked away for a thousand years up in the moon. Honestly, I wonder how she took that or even what she did for a thousand years.

"Pardon my younger sister," Celestia said, "she _can _be a bit adamant."

"Very funny, sister," Luna sarcastically spoke.

We all couldn't help but utter a few chuckles, myself being an exception. Honestly, I didn't want my favorite Princess to get the wrong impression of me.

A few moments later, the chuckling and amusing giggling ceased and we got down to the important business.

"Now," Celestia spoke, "I have some interesting news to tell all seven of you."

"And what might that be, Princess?" asked Twilight.

"The seventh Element of Harmony, the Element of Happiness," continued Celestia, "belongs to Robert."

"What?" I uncomfortably chuckled.

"You, Robert, are the holder of the Element of Happiness." Celestia assured.

"But how can that be?" I asked. "No offense intended Your Highness, but I highly doubt that I am the holder of the Element of Happiness for a couple reasons. First, I just recently came to this world and second, I've never heard of such an Element before."

"Question," Celestia quickly replied, "how would you know if the Element of Happiness existed if you just recently came to our fair world?"

"You'd have no knowledge of what Elements existed in our world prior to coming here," added Luna.

"I...uh...you see..."

I couldn't honestly answer that truthfully without breaking the fourth wall...

I found myself in quite a pickle...what should I do?


	13. Chapter 13

Hard Times – Part 13

"Explain yourself, Robert," Luna demanded.

I began panicking on the inside. Everyone's eyes were glued on me as I just stood there, speechless. Luna's horn started glowing in the magnificent indigo aura, signaling her tracing her ability to use her magic, I guess as a way of threatening me what could happen if I chose not to answer.

I gulped, "I...uh..."

Luna and Celestia glanced heavily at me, as did the Elements of Harmony...my new friends...

"Go on," Celestia requested.

"Explain yourself," Luna added.

"The reason I know much about what Elements existed," I sighed, "is because...because..."

"Because what?" snapped Luna.

"Because..." I sighed once more, "in...my world," I paused as I glanced over at my new friends. I felt a tear begin to escape from my eye and run down the side of my face as I finished answering the question that was forced upon me.

"Yes?" Luna impatiently asked.

"In my world," I continued, "you all are a work of fiction..."

There was an unbearable and extremely uncomfortable silence that followed after I said that, almost like they were all heartbroken. Some time later, Celestia quietly proceeded by asking me yet another question.

"What do you mean?" She glumly asked.

"Back home," I slowly replied, "this world is the setting of a television show meant for little girls. However, the show attracted both little children and young adults, mainly for the colorful attractions that exist in this world, or perhaps the strong plots each episode had. Either way, I had a younger sister back home that loved watching you work out your problems and find lessons pertaining to friendship. The only reason I know so much about this world is because my younger sister, Ariana, loved watching it with me. So, in essence, I know how Twilight became an alicorn, how she used to be your star student, Princess, how she traveled to an alternate version of my world to retrieve her crown that one of your former students, Sunset Shimmer, stole, and then some. I know how the Elements of Harmony were founded, how Twilight retrieved the Elements, which Element belongs to which pony, what each pony does around town...putting it in perspective, Your Highness, I know an awful lot about this world since you, Equestria, every...pony was astonishingly popular back home. People back home often write interesting stories, called FanFictions, involving this world, or any world in particular, myself included. I'm sorry if this is a lot to take in, Your Highness, my friends, everypony. This is the one de...er, speech, I wished I hadn't spoken..."

Everyone looked stunned as I skimmed my view around the room. Honestly, breaking the fourth wall, and to the extent that I went and broke it, was harsh and a horrific event that shouldn't have occurred. I wouldn't be at all surprised if my friends felt betrayed and never wanted to speak to me again. It was a lot to take in and a lot for me to offer. I turned around and slowly began walking out of the room, with my head hanging down as low as it would go.

"Wait!" Twilight called, voice echoing along the walls of the large throne room.

I turned my lowly head around and noticed Twilight approaching me, closely followed by the other five ponies, as well as the two princesses.

"Where are you going?" continued Twilight.

"Well...aren't you girls mad at me for keeping that information from you?" I quietly asked.

"Of course not, Robert," Celestia answered.

"It doesn't matter if we are fictional or not," Pinkie added.

"All that matters is that we ourselves are as happy as we can be, darling." chimed Rarity.

"So...you're not disappointed or angry with me, then?" I asked.

"Of course not, Robert," answered Twilight.

"Right, y'all have gone through a lot recently." Applejack added.

"Yeah," Rainbow responded, "as long as we're happy, then-"

"Then we are real." Luna interrupted.

Tears started falling out of my eyes more rapidly now, knowing that, despite breaking the fourth wall horrendously, my friends still decided to stand with me by my side.

"You are the greatest friends a pony could've asked for." I happily spoke through my tears.

"As are you, Robert." Twilight replied.

We engaged each other in a group hug with myself being wrapped up in the middle. After a short while, Celestia got right back down to business, proceeding with what she needed to tell us almost as if I had never broke the fourth wall.

"Twilight," Celestia started, "I need you to go find the Element of Happiness. It is imperative that you find it quickly since a prophesy foretold us that a powerful villain will rise up and can only be defeated if and when the seventh Element of Harmony is present."

"Go, Twilight Sparkle," Luna told Twilight, "retrieve the Element of Happiness. The future of Equestria is in your hooves now."

"We'll find it as quick as possible, Princess." Twilight assured. She turned back around and faced the all of us, "Let's go!"

With Twilight leading the way, we rushed out of the throne room as fast as our hooves could carry us, proceeding back to the Canterlot Train Station so that we could travel back to Ponyville to search for my Element of Harmony, the Element of Happiness.


	14. Chapter 14

Hard Times – Part 14

"Do you have any idea what it looks like, Twilight?" A curious Pinkie Pie asked.

"Honestly," began Twilight, "when we found the Elements of Harmony – our Elements – they were just stones. Perhaps the Element of Happiness is the same, simply a stone."

"Then how do we get the actual Element, Twilight?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Robert?"

"It is true that when you found the Elements of Harmony that they too were also stone carvings," I replied, "however, actual Elements fully appeared after the stones were shattered by Nightmare Moon."

"You're right, Robert," Twilight gasped, "our Elements appeared after Nightmare Moon shattered the stone carvings of the Elements, but that was simply the other five Elements. Mine appeared out of thin air after I felt a spark that ignited inside of me after I felt happy to see all of my friends, to know that they cared for me, that they helped me out in one of my times of need. I felt happy to see them and was proud to know that they were my friends, thus summoning my Element of Magic. Perhaps when we find your Element, it'll react in the same way."

"That could be a possibility..." I said, rubbing my chin with my hoof.

"Any possibility is better than no possibility, darling," Rarity inserted.

"Right," Twilight agreed as the train we were waiting for started approaching the station.

The train came to a complete stop, slowing down fairly nicely and comfortably for the passengers on board. When the doors to the coaches opened up, the seven of us calmly boarded the train and proceeded to a section of seats that were left untouched and separated from the rest of the car.

"All aboard!" The conductor yelled, closely followed by the train's whistle blowing.

Steam from the train was let off before the train began moving once more. As the train's engine started and the train began moving, Twilight turned to the rest of us and began planning just how we may find the Element of Happiness.

"Once we arrive back in Ponyville," she began, "we'll quickly head straight towards the Everfree Forest."

"Th-the Ever f-f-free F-Forest?" squeaked Fluttershy.

"Yes," Twilight assured, "the Everfree Forest. I know it isn't the best place Fluttershy, but we have to go into the forest to find the Element of Happiness."

Fluttershy replied with silence, cowering up behind my back. I smiled as I began stroking her mane with my hoof gently.

"There, there, Fluttershy," I said, "we'll find it quickly and be out of the forest in no time."

Fluttershy squeaked something else, though I couldn't tell what she said as Twilight continued on with her plan for retrieving the Element of Happiness.

"Once we're inside the Forest, we'll immediately make our way towards the old castle where we found our Elements before." Twilight continued. "Princess Celestia did tell us that the Element of Happiness was located further than where our Elements were, so we'll search every possible location for the Element. We'll search every nook and every cranny for this Element if it means that it will help save Equestria from certain doom."

"Hey, Twi," Applejack started, "Ah've been thinkin', woul'n't it be better if we had our Elements with us while we search for the Element of Happiness?"

"Hmm..." Twilight thought.

"Cause maybe, just maybe, our Elements could help us find this new Element," finished Applejack.

"She may be on to something, Twilight," Rainbow Dash chimed.

"Perhaps," Twilight replied, "I mean, our Elements could know the location of the Element of Happiness, but still," Twilight paused for a second.

"Think of it like this, Twilight," Rarity said, "if we were to have our Elements, we would be able to defend ourselves from whatever looms inside the forest. Plus, once we find Robert's Element of Happiness, we could see if it is functional with our Elements."

"I guess you have a point." Twilight responded. "So it's settled then. We'll grab our Elements before we head out into the Everfree Forest."

"Right." everybody agreed.

The rest of the train ride was quiet, for the most part. The chugs of the train along with the occasional whistle were really the only sounds that we heard. About ten minutes had passed before we had arrived back at the Ponyville Train Station. Once the train came to a complete stop and the doors opened up, Twilight led all of us out of the train, back towards her oak tree home, which was conveniently located nearby (that true distance was only shown once in the entire series as of now).

As Twilight opened the door with her magic, she proceeded inside her home and quickly retrieved the Elements of Harmony – their Elements, to be more specific.

The Elements of Harmony were notably more sparklerific (in Pinkie terms). They were more shiny and more colorful than how they appeared on the show. Using her magic, Twilight gave each pony their specific Element, wrapping them and attaching them around their necks. Finally, Twilight applied her crown to the top of her head and, as planned, we began heading over towards the Everfree Forest.

"We'll be back later, Spike," Twilight called out to her little dragon assistant as she used her magic to shut the door behind her.

The stroll towards the outskirts of the Everfree Forest wasn't too long, ironically. We had arrived there shortly and stood before the dark and fearful forest. On the show, the darkness was portrayed by a darker shade of the same colors being used. In actuality, the Everfree Forest was as dark as the night itself, something I'm sure Princess Luna would love.

"Are you all ready to go into the forest?" Twilight asked us all.

"Ready!" Rainbow Dash and Applejack replied at the same time.

"I'm ready as well." Rarity added.

"As am I." I chimed.

"I'm super-duper ready!" Pinkie Pie enthusiastically said.

"R-R-Ready..." Fluttershy quietly squeaked.

"Then let's go!" Twilight concluded.

And with that, we all took our first step into the dark and mysterious Everfree Forest.


	15. Chapter 15

Hard Times – Part 15

The Everfree Forest...I'd never imagine how dark and mystifying it truly is...

Honestly, I'm quite humble to this type of surrounding. After all, I am quite fond of independence itself, you know. This...this was the equivalent of being back home, to a certain extent, that is. I made sure to cover my serenity fairly nicely, though I believe Twilight caught a glimpse of it for just a split second...a split second too long.

I glanced at the other ponies, who were all still wearing their Elements of Harmony. I knew that much since the light that Twilight was supplying from her horn with her magic was reflecting off of each of the Elements. Seeing the Elements was truly an amazing moment of my...well...life, I guess, though I did die.

Suddenly, as we were walking along the supremely eerie dirt path, we all heard something break and snap behind us, immediately causing Fluttershy to jump and run towards one of us for safety, this time being Twilight's turn to provide it. Immediately confronting the noise, Rainbow Dash shouted out into the dark and gloomy forest, demanding whatever it was that made that sound come out and show themselves.

"I mean it!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Come out and show yourself!"

Silence...eerie, eerie silence...

"I'm warning you!" continued Rainbow Dash.

More silence...

"Rainbow, hold on," Twilight called as she saw Rainbow Dash begin to rush into the darkness.

All Rainbow Dash did afterwards was sigh fairly largely. Twilight ignored the dissatisfied sigh and approached the darkness further. The light originating from her horn lit the surrounding area further, showing a bush that was sitting in the middle of the dirt path we were walking on; a bush that originally was not there.

Rainbow Dash jetted into the bush and blew all the leaves that were on said bush away, revealing absolutely nothing. We were all confused, knowing that this bush was not there when we passed by the area moments ago, wondering how it got here (strange as that sounds) and wondering who or what was following us.

"It's nothing..." Twilight confirmed.

"Whoever put that there must've gotten away..." Rainbow Dash glumly added.

"Come on, y'all," Applejack chimed, "let's keep movin'."

"Right." agreed Twilight, pulling herself back around and leading the group deeper into the forest.

I stood behind a bit longer, staring mindlessly at the severed and destroyed bush. Someone else was here with us, and they couldn't have gotten far without making some more sound. I looked back at the group and noticed that they had moved up pretty far without me. Fortunately for me, I was a unicorn and could use the magic I had to create a light similar to the one Twilight was making, only mine was green compared to her magenta color. I rushed back to the end of the group as quickly as I could, reaching them in no time. As I got closer, I relieved the light I was providing, so that no one would be startled should they have spotted a glowing green light.

"...then maybe the Element will be there." I heard Twilight say.

_What?_I thought, a bit confused.

"That sounds like a good possibility, Twilight," Rarity replied.

"Yeah," Rainbow added, "if the Element is there, then our search will go twice as fast, which means I could squeeze in an afternoon nap after this is over."

_They're talking about my Element and the possible location of it..._ I concluded. _But where did they say we should check?_

I decided to cease my thoughts on my Element and continued walking down the path. About a couple minutes have passed before I started hearing some sinister laughter, the kind of laughter a villain would own. Startled (which was something I rarely ever was), I turned around as fast as the bullet that penetrated through my head before I died. I scanned the area fast, searching for any slight movement past the strange breeze I started feeling...

Wait...it wasn't breezy a moment ago...

"Girls, hold up," I called out, the sound of hooves making contact with the ground coming to a halt.

"What's the matter, Robert?" Twilight asked.

"Shh!" I hissed. "Someone is following us..."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, a bit quieter than her last question. She stepped up next to me and shone her light brighter.

"Someone is out there in the forest following us..." I reiterated.

A thought came rushing through my mind as I scanned the area quickly once more. I thought that Twilight should slowly fade the light on her horn, creating the illusion that we were proceeding down the path as if we heard nothing. I thought that for a split second then decided to share it with Twilight.

"Can you slowly fade out the light coming from your horn?" I quietly requested.

"Why?"

"It'll create the illusion that we are farther down in the path." I replied. "Once thirty seconds or so have passed, could you completely cease the light?"

"If you say so, Robert," obliged Twilight.

A second thought came whizzing by in my head. This thought was about Fluttershy and how startled she would become once the light was fully dissipated. Deriving a plan to step around that, I approached Fluttershy and started comforting her a bit.

"Listen, Fluttershy," I quietly started, "Twilight is going to stop providing the light for a short while. I need you to be brave here, Fluttershy. For the sake of finding the Element, I need you to not make any kind of sound when the light disappears. Can you do that for me?"

"I-I'll do my best..." Fluttershy squeaked.

"Could you help her, Rainbow Dash?" I requested.

"Sure thing, Rob," Rainbow agreed, stepping up next to Fluttershy to comfort her.

I smiled, then approached Twilight once more. I figured that it was best if Twilight started fading out the light now, as I provided the illusion of hooves trotting down the road, slowly getting quieter as the light faded even more. Once the light was gone, I ceased my sound and we all stood in the dark, horrifying forest on the dirt path. For our purposes, two things rushed through my head. The first being how well Fluttershy was handling being here in the dark, not making any sort of sounds. The second item that rushed through my head was where this creature that was following us was.

I scanned the area thoroughly, searching for the slightest movement, past the unusual breeze we were feeling. I scanned the area from the dirt path that we traveled on, to the trees, from the trunks of the trees, to the tops of them, looking for anything that was being forcefully moved.

I was prepared for pretty much anything, waiting for my prey to foolishly reveal itself to us.


	16. Chapter 16

Hard Times – Part 16

I continued scanning the surrounding area thoroughly. If there was one thing I was good at, besides playing my guitar, it was sensing and locating my prey in the wilderness. Back home, you had to be skillful at hunting animals. Certain times, especially during the end of October into the beginning of November, it was the only source of food since the nearest supermarket always ran out of food during this time of year. Funny, really...I always thought it would be the week before Thanksgiving that this would happen, not the end of October.

Either way, I squinted my eyes at a tree when I heard some shuffling and rustling of leaves coming from a tree above us. I saw a little creature up inside the tree, trying desperately to hide itself, managing to do so, for the most part. What gave the little creature away was that they failed to cover up one of their dark, maroon colored hooves.

Sidetracking a bit here, first off, if you're in pursuit or stalking a group of ponies – or anybody for any reason (no matter how strange) – at least make sure you successfully hide yourself, first. Second, if you are going to hide yourself, make sure you hide yourself utilizing colors that are relatively close to you, not the complete opposite. Lastly, and this is the most important item I learned from hunting (NOT stalking), NEVER reveal yourself. Once you reveal yourself, you are screwed.

Getting back on track here, I used my magic and forcefully pulled down the creature that was "hiding" up in the tree. Twilight lit up her horn once more, and it was revealed that this creature was a younger version of a pony, a filly, to be more exact. Twilight approached the maroon colored filly and asked what they were doing all the way out here. The little filly stood silent.

"You know, my little pony," restarted Twilight, "you really should answer a question coming from somepony of royalty. I'll ask you once more: what are you doing all the way out here by yourself?"

Once more, the little filly stood silent. I confronted the younger pony and demanded that she answer if

she didn't want...well, let's just leave it at she would've left the forest looking a bit more bluer than red. Still they refused to answer the question. Instead, they pointed a hoof in the air, pointing to something behind us, which caused us all to turn around and search for what it was they were pointing at.

Honestly, one of us should've paid close attention to the little filly because, when we turned back around, she was gone. Putting that odd event behind us, we continued in our pursuit to find my Element of Harmony, the Element of Happiness.

After a while of more walking and more eerie silence, we saw a dim light up ahead and a little to the left. I figured that we must be close to a structure, perhaps even the Element itself.

"Look," exclaimed Pinkie, "up ahead!"

She pointed a hoof towards the structure as we got closer. The light was fairly dim, dim as trying to see something in the dead of night. As we got closer, I confirmed that this structure was not the same as the structure Twilight and the others originally went in to retrieve the Elements of Harmony, so perhaps this was the location of my Element.

"Come on," Twilight said, "let's go inside."

Everyone bravely stepped inside the crumbling, stone structure, with the exception of Fluttershy, who cowardly stepped inside. As we proceeded down one of the destroyed hallways, the light we saw earlier had started growing brighter and brighter and brighter until we were finally met face to face with the originating source.

"There it is..." Rarity exclaimed.

"The Element of Happiness!" Twilight shouted.

"Ooooh..." admired Pinkie and Fluttershy.

"Meh...I've seen better..." Rainbow scoffed, causing Applejack to roll her eyes.

"So..." Twilight told me.

"So what?" I replied, still admiring the stone that contained my Element of Harmony.

Twilight giggled at my reply. "Go on...go get your Element of Harmony."

"Oh..."

I slowly approached the bright, round stone and was sure to be extra careful when I grabbed it. Meeting it face-to-face, I used my magic to carefully take off the stone and place it gently on the ground. As I did that, the others gathered around the stone, creating almost a perfect circle around the stone.

"If we use our Elements of Harmony on this stone," Twilight started, "perhaps the Element of Happiness will reveal itself to us."

A charade of agreements closely followed Twilight's idea and so they began to charge up their Elements. Seeing this up close and personal was amazing since the details that were never captured on the show were showing themselves here to me. For one, I got to see how each Element activated truthfully and actually. As each Element successfully charged up, Twilight charged up her crown's Element. After a while, an extremely bright and colorful rainbow shot out from the six of them. The rainbow started spiraling, resembling the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), then bent over and pelted the stone on the ground. The stone took in the power from the Elements of Harmony and shot it straight back out in all directions, ceasing the power coming from the other six Elements and causing the ponies to collapse on the ground from exhaustion.

After a while, the Element stone began glowing, brighter than before. It then started levitating in the air and made its way over towards where I was. It broke off into seven different pieces and the pieces started wrapping themselves around me, ultimately combining itself with my body and forming the seventh Element of Harmony, the Element of Happiness, to appear.

The seventh Element, just like the other five (not including Twilight's crown), was a necklace that was in the shape of a happy face (I know, really original and creative [insert sarcasm here]). It was an emerald color, almost matching my coat color and started pulling me into the air.

In the air, the Element of Happiness released some power and pelted the six collapsed ponies. I tried my best to stop the power, since it appeared to be hurting Twilight and the others, but I had no control over it.

The Element of Happiness was destroying the other six Elements of Harmony...


	17. Chapter 17

Hard Times - Part 17

Why was this happening? It's almost as if this Element was trying to get rid of the other Elements.

"Stop this right now!" I snapped, raging at the uncontrollable Element.

Finding enough strength to do so, I used my front hooves (both of them) to tear off the Element of Happiness from around my neck and threw it straight to the ground. Honestly, it wasn't my best choice, seeing how it caused me to collapse to the ground, but it did stop the onslaught of the original Elements of Harmony.

Looking around, each pony had begun coughing, probably either as a result from the Element of Happiness and it's rouge behavior, or possibly the dust that was around us. I saw Pinkie Pie stand back up first, slowly followed by Rainbow Dash.

_Is it me, _I thought to myself, _or do they look a tad different?_

Pretty soon, everyone else got back atop their hooves. I noticed a few changes in their features as compared to a couple minutes ago. First and foremost, the major minor feature (kind of an oxymoron listed, major minor) the was different was the fact that each of the ponies were brightly colored. Sure, they were already brightly colored, but now, they were like how a neon color stands out compared to regular colors. Second, each of them had appeared to grow slightly, matching my height, with the exception of Pinkie, who was slightly shorter than the rest of us. Lastly, and this only appeared on Twilight, I noticed an extra streak of rosé color in Twilight's mane (in other words, instead of the one strand of hair being a rosé color, there were now two). I wasn't really sure what the two rosé strands did differently, I just happened to notice that.

"Are you all okay?" I asked, reverting my attention back from minor details to their health.

"Fine?" Pinkie quickly questioned.

"Ah feel better than fine," added Applejack.

"I feel totally awesome!" Rainbow told me.

"Don't you normally feel awesome, Rainbow Dash?" I asked.

"Yeah," continued Rainbow, "but now I feel at least 20% cooler!"

"To each their own, I guess." I replied.

Twilight and Rarity were the last two ponies to answer, minus Fluttershy, who appeared to look fine. Both Twilight and Rarity claimed to have felt a bit more stronger now compared to approximately five minutes ago.

"What happened?" asked Twilight.

"Well," I began, "the Element of Happiness went rouge, appearing to damage each and every one of you. However, that clearly can't be the case since you all appear to look stronger now then a few moments ago."

"So where's the Element, Robert?" Pinkie asked me.

I pointed towards the Element that I threw towards the ground so that the attack on the other Elements would cease. Twilight tilted her head a bit, a tad confused as to why the Element was on the ground. When she asked why it was on the ground, I began to answer her back, only to be interrupted by a sound coming from the destroyed hallway we were in a short while ago.

Instinctively, I spun around as fast as a jet speeds through the air. I calmly raised my ears to see if I could pick up on any other sounds coming from the hallway, mainly foot...I mean, hoofsteps... Fortunately, everyone had remained silent as I tried to listen in on them.

I heard a "CLANG!" coming from the hallway, probably the result of something either tipping over, or something bumping into something else; the hallway was dark, after all.

After a short while of horrible, mind numbing silence, I began to hear more hoofsteps coming from the hallway, and they sounded as if they were nearing our location. Turning back around, I told everyone to look for a position to hide themselves while I stood in the center of the room.

Following my instructions, everyone hid themselves as I used my magic to quietly shoot the source of light and darken the room entirely. The hoofsteps were fairly close by now as I stood in the center of the chamber that once held my Element of Happiness, watching the only entrance for any slight movement.

Squinting my eyes, I poured all my attention out onto the entrance, waiting for whatever was in the hallway to come in and reveal itself, that way, I could take it down.

_Come on... _I began telling myself, _Show yourself!_

Honestly, when you hunt, especially up in the north at around this time of year, you become open to anything and everything. It's almost as if you are one with nature, allowing it to tell you everything about everything, developing extra senses, such as alertness and night vision.

Moments later, as if on cue, I noticed a dark black figure that walked into the chamber the rest of us were in. Fortunately for me, the figure couldn't recognize me or spot me in this pitch black room, making it easier for me to capture my prey.

As they neared me, the Emerald aura of my magic surrounded my horn, trapping and capturing the figure that was following us in their tracks. I saw both a purple aura and a blue aura light up the room and finally reveal who exactly was following us. Honestly, what was following us was shocking, to say the least...

"You again?" I heard Rainbow Dash say.

The little being I had caught with my magic was the same maroon colored filly from before. Now trapped, she had nowhere to go until she had answered our questions.

Just like before, Twilight stepped forward and asked the filly what she was doing out here all by herself. Instead of silence, however, she answered this time.

She answered sinisterly, if I may quickly add.

"He's coming for you..." answered the filly before disappearing into thin air.

That last part frightened all of us, especially Fluttershy. What stood on my mind, though, was what the filly told us...

Who was "he?" Should we be afraid?


	18. Chapter 18

Hard Times - Part 18

"Uhh...anypony else worried 'bout what that lil filly just said?"

Applejack, who was closest to the filly that vanished (with the exception of me), quickly looked behind her and asked us all that, getting a few slow nods in reply from Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Myself, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash tried to cover up our worries. I'd say that I did that very well.

Anyway, a few moments passed by and when a slight breeze started to be felt, that was when we decided to grab my Element and leave the compound as quickly as possible.

The hallways were as dark as the night itself, possibly even darker. Not even the light coming from the our horns could fill up this hall with enough significant light. However, we did manage to navigate our way outside the crumbling structure.

Just in the nick of time, too. Why did I say that, you ask? Well, once I exited the structure (I was the last pony in the group if I failed to tell you that information), the entire compound collapsed on itself, creating a cloud of dust that filled the surrounding air. I honestly felt my heart jump out of my body as the structure collapsed however, it felt as if the structure was meant to collapse, claiming whoever was still inside of it. Don't get me wrong, it was a crumbling structure, but it wasn't at the point of collapse just yet. Someone made this structure collapse, trying to stop us from returning with my Element of Harmony, but that was just a hunch.

"Anyone else find it a tad strange that the structure collapsed just as we exited it?" I calmly asked the others.

"I must admit," began Rarity, "it was a bit strange."

"But that structure was on the brink of collapsing," Twilight added, "that was bound to happen at any time."

I let that slide for now as we began to head back towards Ponyville. The journey was oddly quicker leaving the Everfree Forest than pursuing into it. We found ourselves at the edge of the forest within a half hour and immediately proceeded back towards the Ponyville Train Station. Princess Celestia made a special request to see the Element once we have retrieved it, so that's what we were going to do.

The train had arrived a bit later than usual, but that didn't bother anyone, not even Rainbow Dash, believe it or not, who hates waiting just as much as the next person...or pony, in this case. Once the train had completely stopped, we boarded on the train, setting ourselves down in a place similar to the last time, at the last row of seats in the car, separate from everyone else.

This train ride went by awfully quicker than last time, most likely since we had engaged in conversation the nature way through, having an extremely hard time keeping quiet. The one and only conversation we managed to have was about my Element of Harmony.

I won't go into the full detailing of my Element of Harmony once more. By now, you know what it looks like, what color it is, where we found it, how it activates, and what it almost did to my new friends. Getting back on track here, though, the train had arrived at the Canterlot Train Station and we hopped off, heading over towards the Canterlot Castle to show Princess Celestia the Element of Happiness and tell her about our journey, mainly what had happened and (most likely) about the filly who had followed us and warned us about "him."

The Canterlot Castle was truly magnificent. The castle was as bright and colorful as ever, oddly reminding me of the Crystal Castle since the light shined off it so elegantly. We headed into the castle and were immediately escorted by two royal guards, a unicorn and a Pegasus, to the large, majestic throne room. The escort was fairly quick, as the unicorn guard used his magic to open the double-wide door once we had met said door face to face.

Inside was the Princess, both of them, and they were accompanied by another pony, an alicorn more specifically, and a pink colored one to be a little more specific. Something about this alicorn seemed familiar, though I couldn't really remember who exactly they were...

Sidetracking a bit here, I have had the worst time remembering things while I have been here. That's beginning to bother me a bit, no lie.

Getting back on track here, the six ponies I was with seemed to know who exactly this alicorn was, especially Twilight, immediately hustling over to greet them.

"Cadance!" shouted Twilight, causing the new alicorn to spin around.

"Twilight!" They responded, meeting Twilight halfway to hug her.

I paid my attention over from the two alicorns hugging to Princess Celestia, who had been eagerly awaiting our return. I showed her the Element of Happiness as the rest of us approached her throne.

"We have successfully retrieved the Element of Happiness, Your Highness!" I proudly announced.

"Excellent work, Robert," praised Celestia.

"Did you have any hardships tracking it and retrieving it?" asked Luna.

"Just a little bump in the road, Princess Luna," I replied, "no biggie."

"'No biggie?'" Luna responded.

"Right," I said, "meaning not a big problem."

"Please," continued Celestia, "would you care to explain?"

"Absolutely, Your Highness," I happily obliged, proceeding to tell her what had happened in entirety.

I took note to make sure to not leave out any details while telling the story and if I did, which did happen a bit more often than I would've hoped for, the five other ponies, minus Twilight, who was having her own conversation with the other alicorn in the room, made sure to cover up for me. This was a story that was meant to have every detail shared, and that's just what we made sure happened.

Upon completing the story, Celestia quickly asked us to repeat one item that seemed to stick out the most to her.

"Tell me," she began, "did you say that a little maroon colored filly had followed you to the chamber for the Element of Happiness?"

"Yes, Princess," I confirmed, "why do you ask?"

"I believe I may know a little bit more about that filly, my little ponies," replied Celestia.


	19. Chapter 19

Hard Times - Part 19

"What do you mean when you say you may know more about this filly that followed us into the forest, Princess?" A concerned Twilight asked, immediately dropping the conversation she was having with the new alicorn whom I couldn't recall their name.

"That filly has been known to show herself whenever something horrible is about to occur," Celestia sighed.

"Are you talking about Autumnal Array?" The new alicorn asked.

"Precisely, Princess Cadance." replied Celestia.

"However, her name doesn't match her style," Luna added.

"What do you mean?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Array means an ordered arrangement," I answered, "the autumnal part just means something of the fall season."

"Right," chimed Twilight, "and if she always shows herself when something horrible happens, her name would more likely imply the exact opposite. Meaning, instead of array, her name should be Disarray."

"What's disarray mean then?" Pinkie asked again.

"Disarray means disorganization or untidiness," I answered once more.

"Sounds like something Discord would enjoy!" Implied Rainbow Dash.

She was into something, believe it or not. It was true that Discord was reformed, I remember that much. He was reformed by Fluttershy after she had showed him a high amount of kindness and friendship, however, nobody has seen or even heard from him since we got here. If there was some way we could link Autumnal Array with Discord, then perhaps we have the villain I'm supposed to stop. Then again, if it were Discord I had to stop, why would my Element of Happiness be necessary here? He was defeated by the other six using their Elements; mine wasn't needed to defeat him, Nightmare Moon, or anyone else for that fact...

Then again, the Elements were only used against Discord and Nightmare Moon. They were never used against King Sombra or Queen Chysalis. They were defeated using other means, and by other means, I mean someone else.

If I can recall correctly, King Sombra was defeated by the love and harmony of the crystal ponies while Queen Chrysalis was defeated by the love between Twilight's older brother - umm...Shining Armor, I think his name was - and Princess Cadance, whom I had finally recognized was standing in front of me...chalk that one up for a failure to notice something so obvious...it isn't every day you get to meet the Princess of Love...

Either way, what if it was one of them who was making an appearance? Queen Chrysalis was one to tremble before since she herself defeated Princess Celestia, who was considered to be a powerful goddess since she alone could raise and lower the sun and moon with ease. Or even King Sombra...what if it was him? He did make a quick reappearance in the Crystal Empire, I remember that, but his poor decision making and horrible timing was what defeated him in actuality when you stop and really think about it. Plus, to top that all off, he does contain some dreadful magic, as did Queen Chrysalis. What if it's both of them who are coming?

That last thought really had me trembling with fear as I started shaking furiously. If both of them were to arrive once more, how would we confront them? And by "we," I mean the Elements of Harmony, myself included.

I had stopped paying attention to everyone around me until I noticed that all eyes were on me and I was the center of attention now. I started blushing a bit, making my emerald cheeks turn a slightly pale pink color, unaware of what was going on at the current moment. It wasn't until Twilight helped fill me in that I began to continue.

"Well, Robert?" Twilight told me. "Who do you think is connected with Autumnal Array?"

Honestly, if I were to take a wild guess, that's probably one of the later items I would have guessed. For some odd reason, I would've guessed, "So how are you enjoying this fair world" first.

"Umm..." I began after some awkward silence, "I think that either Queen Chrysalis or King Sombra is linked to Autumnal Array."

"Why's that?" asked Celestia.

"Well, uh..." I started, "it seems to make the most sense to me, Your Highness."

"Well I'll give you that," Luna told me, "that does sound like a logical hypothesis, Robert."

Was I just complimented by Luna herself on my preposterous guess? Whatever! I'll take that any day!

Ahem...getting back to professionalism now, the lights to the throne room we had been inside had suddenly gone off and the sun had started setting at the same time. I couldn't place my...hoof on why the lights went out, but I safely assumed that Celestia and Luna were lowering the sun and raising the moon like they do each and every day.

I assumed that until they assured us all that this was not their doings.

"We're not doing that, everypony," Celestia calmly assured, though hints of frightfulness could be traced in the sound of her voice and by how she told us that.

"Then...who is?" Applejack quickly responded.

Suddenly, without any warning, the large, double-wide doors leading from inside the throne room out into the hallway had bursted open. Standing there looking at us all was Autumnal Array (which, truth be told, was not a big shocker to me).

She had started entering the throne room after two large pony shaped figures had collapsed on the ground behind her. My bet was that those two were the guards that were guarding the throne room and that by some magical reason, Autumnal Array had overpowered them. How? I wasn't too sure.

Autumnal Array had approached me slowly and motioned for me to lower my head towards her mouth. I did so and she began to whisper something to me.

"Told you he'd be coming..." She softly spoke.

After that, I pulled my head away fairly quickly to notice Autumnal array fade into the air, almost like she herself was simply a mirage. I turned around to notice that everyone else was just as surprised as I was, though they couldn't tell what Autumnal Array had told me.


	20. Chapter 20

Hard Times - Part 20

"What's going on?" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"Who's there!?" I demanded to know.

"_Yesss._" A sinister voice said.

_That voice... _I thought, _it sounds a bit too familiar..._

"Show yourself!" Demanded Rainbow Dash.

"_Yesss_." The voice repeated.

"That voice..." Luna started.

"It sounds familiar..." added Celestia.

"A bit too familiar if you ask me." Princess Cadance included.

_Much like yourself,_ I told myself, _though look how long it took me to finally notice you..._

"_Yesss, yesss, yesss!_"

Suddenly, a swirling cloud of dust had revealed itself to all of us and appeared to grow larger. It hovered from its original spot over towards Princess Celestia's throne, setting itself on top of it.

"No..." I said out loud, "it can't be..."

Twilight must've heard me since she assured me that it was indeed who I was thinking of.

King Sombra...the dastardly villain...

"Why are you here, King Sombra?" Celestia demanded.

"My previous attempt at taking over the Crystal Empire has ended in failure." Sombra started. "So I figured, why not try for a bigger empire - namely, Canterlot! There is no Crystal Heart that can defeat me here! Now, bow down to your King!"

"There may not be a Crystal Heart here, King Sombra," Princess Cadance said in reply, "but I'm here!"

"And what are you gonna do, hmm?" Sombra challenged.

"Use the power of love and harmony to defeat you!" Cadance assured, using her magic to summon some of that love and harmony.

"You are weak compared to me, Princess," Sombra snickered, "allow me to show you what true power feels like!"

King Sombra charged his dark magic and attacked Cadance with it, sending her in a terrifying trance.

"Wha-what?" Cadance started, unaware of what happened.

"What did you do to her, Sombra?" Celestia demanded.

"Bring Princess Cadance back to us!" added Luna.

"It's too late for her!" Sombra replied.

"No!" shouted Cadance. "Please...don't leave me Shining Armor..."

"She's seeing her worst fears now!" Rarity stated.

"Shining Armor leaving her is her worst fear..." a lowly Twilight added.

"That would never happen!" Celestia shouted.

"But it is a vital possibility, Celestia!" Sombra responded.

"Cadance," Twilight shouted, "snap out if it! Cadance!"

Princess Cadance failed to respond to Twilight's calls.

"Cadance!"

No response.

"_Cadance!_"

Still no response.

"_CADANCE!_"

"Wh-what..." Cadance finally said, snapping out of the trance she was in, "what happened?"

"Cadance!" Celestia said, relieved, "You're okay!"

"But it's too late for all of you!" Sombra shouted, unleashing his dark magic on us all.

"What's going on!?" I asked, showing signs of fearfulness in my voice.

"I don't-" started Twilight before we had all disappeared from the throne room.

* * *

I had reappeared inside a barred room by myself. I was hurting really bad, believe it or not. I couldn't place my hoof on why I was hurting so badly since I wasn't directly attacked by Sombra himself. I started rubbing the back of my neck instinctively, like most people do when they try to cope with pain. As I was rubbing my neck, I began hearing some odd sounds coming from somewhere else in the room I was in.

"Who's there?" I bravely asked.

"Robert?" A voice replied. "Is that you?"

"How do you know my name?" I quickly asked, ignoring the previously asked question. "Show yourself."

A tall, white unicorn had stepped out from the shadows of the room and showed themselves to me. This unicorn had a beautifully crafted purple mane and tail and had three gemstones on their flank as a cutie mark.

"Rarity!" I concluded.

"Oh, Robert, darling," Rarity continued, "it is you."

"It is..." I repeated, noticing Rarity's increased height, wondering why she was so tall now.

"It is, but why are you so small?" Rarity immediately questioned.

"Why are you so big?" I asked at the same time.

"What happened, darling?" Rarity questioned once more.

"I don't know," I answered, "but what I really want to know is: which one of us is different? Did I shrink or did you grow?"

"I don't know, Robert," Rarity answered, "but let's try to find a way out of this horrid cage."

"Right!" I agreed.

We then began searching for a way outside of this cage. It appeared as if there was no way out, seeing how there was no doorway, but as I started using my magic to light up the room, I noticed that my magic was slowly fading. Eventually, all my magic abilities had vanished and I was unable to find the strength to perform basic magic now, such as levitation. I called for Rarity and told her my condition immediately as I confirmed I was unable to perform any kind of magic.

"Well that's terrible news, Robert," Rarity comforted me, "allow me to help."

I was confused as to what Rarity meant by that but felt an odd sensation fully encase itself around my body. I had noticed a light blue colored aura wrap itself around me and started bringing me up from the ground. It was a long flight upwards but it had stopped eventually and began dragging me towards the right.

_What's going on? _I thought.

Honestly, it took me an awful long time to figure out that Rarity was using her magic on me to help bring me up. Finally, Rarity had set me down on her back and her light blue aura released me. I nearly fell off but managed to get a grip on Rarity's back.

"Are you sure this is okay with you, Rarity?" I asked, unsure if Rarity wanted my dirt covered hooves on her back.

"Oh pish, posh, Robert," replied Rarity, "of course it's fine with me!"

Rarity's voice had echoed all around the room and had violently hurt my eardrums, most likely a side effect from one of our changed heights. Usually, a larger being has a more booming voice, which in this case, Rarity was the larger being here. What we didn't know was if I had shrunk in size and Rarity remained the same size, or if Rarity's height increased and I had stood the same. Either way, Rarity's voice was booming now and had hurt my ears as she shouted that out.

"Look!" Rarity exclaimed as I tended to my hurt ears.

"What's the matter, Rarity?" I asked.

"I believe I've found us a way out of this room!" She responded.

I had poked my head around Rarity's mane and spotted a large doorway in front of us both. The doorway appeared as if it would collapse at any moment, which was the case once Rarity shot a beam of magic at one of the hinges of the door. The door broke off its hinges and opened up to a dark hallway; a dark hallway with some eerie sounds coming from deep within said hallway.

"Shall we proceed, Robert?" Rarity asked me.

"Proceed with caution, Rarity." I answered in reply.

With that said, Rarity had proceeded slowly down the hallway with me notched upon her back. We had hoped to bump into someone else down this hallway and search for a way out of this mess but we weren't too sure if that would entirely happen according to plan.


	21. Chapter 21

Hard Times - Part 21

"Are you okay back there, Robert?" Rarity asked me.

"I'm fine, Rarity," I replied, "thanks for asking."

Riding on Rarity's back was soothing, believe it or not. However, I wish I knew who was the correct height - that was driving me nuts.

"Robert, darling, do you hear that?" asked Rarity.

I began listening a bit harder than I had been now. I began hearing faint hoofsteps coming from down the hallway. It couldn't have been Rarity's hoofsteps since she had stopped moving.

"Whoever's down there," started Rarity, "show yourself!"

"Relax, Rarity," a feminine voice said in reply, "it's only me, Twilight."

Twilight had lit up the surrounding area with her magic. It was revealed to me that she was the same height as Rarity, leading to my conclusion confirming that it was I who had shrunk in size and Rarity who had stayed the same height. Twilight approached Rarity and failed to notice me on her back.

"Are you by yourself, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

"No, not at all," answered Rarity, "I am with Robert right here."

Rarity motioned her head towards her back and showed her side to Twilight, who quickly noticed my change in size. Twilight's large eyes filled my line of view as she gazed into my soul, at least that's what it felt like.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, damaging my eardrums much like Rarity did earlier.

"I don't know, Twilight." I replied.

"Somehow," Rarity added, shifting herself back to the way she was before showing me to Twilight, "little Robert here has shrunk in size as a result of King Sombra's magic."

"Little?" I immediately questioned.

"Oh," replied Rarity, turning her head around to talk to me, "it sounds more cute that way."

I began blushing a bit as Rarity turned her head back around to continue conversing with Twilight.

"Perhaps Robert absorbed the majority of the magic King Sombra attacked us with." Twilight suggested.

"Can you help bring me back to my normal size, Twilight?" I asked.

"I'm not too sure, Robert." answered Twilight, a bit more quietly than before. "Can you perform any kind of magic?"

"Not at all, Twilight," I meekly replied, "I seemed to have lost my ability to perform any and all magic."

"Do you think it's due to his smaller size, Twilight?" A concerned Rarity asked.

"That is a strong possibility, Rarity," answered Twilight, "perhaps Princess Celestia can help him out."

"We'd need to find her first." I insisted.

"Right, tiny," Twilight playfully replied.

"So let's find her, _Princess._" I playfully answered back.

Twilight gave me an annoyed look as I called her Princess. Hey, I may be tiny now, but that still doesn't mean I can have some fun messing with Twilight. Twilight glanced down at me heavily, proceeding to tell me something that made me really change my attitude fairly quickly.

"It'd be a shame if something were to happen to you, Robert," Twilight told me, motioning a hoof towards her stomach, "wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, now would we?"

Quickly taking the hint, I answered back instantly. "Sorry if I offended you, Twilight."

"Apology accepted, Robert." Twilight told me.

That really got me to change my approach towards Twilight. Once again, I may be small, but that doesn't mean that I have to have my life ended a second time in the course of a week. Twilight smiled at me, as I did in return (it was a false smile), as Rarity and Twilight continued down the hall with me still riding Rarity's back.

"Where do you think we are?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"From the looks of it," Twilight started, "I'd say we're in the dungeons beneath Canterlot."

Suddenly, a few other sounds rang down the walls of the hallway we were in, coming from all different directions. Rarity and Twilight had decided to stay put and let the sounds confront us. Twilight still lit the junction with her magic, trying to help out the sounds if they were coming closer to our position.

"Aren't they all still trapped in dungeons, Twilight?" I curiously asked after we had waited for a long while.

"Right..." Agreed Twilight.

"We should split up, Twilight," I replied, "you go down that hallway and free whoever is in any dungeon and Rarity and I will do the same down this hallway."

"Sounds like a plan, Robert." Twilight responded.

"Well, I may be small," I continued, "but I'm still a smart cookie."

"And a mighty tasty looking one, too." Twilight warned.

"Just saying." I immediately responded.

Twilight smirked at me before heading down the hallway I told her to go down. Rarity and I did the same down the opposite hallway and proceeded to whatever was making the eerie sounds. Once we had met the dungeon door face-to-face, Rarity asked for whoever was inside.

"Is that you, Rarity?" A voice asked.

"Yes," answered Rarity, "are you alone in there?"

"No," the voice responded, "I'm here with Rainbow Dash."

This voice sounded like Fluttershy's voice but I wasn't too sure. Mainly, why would Fluttershy answer and not go crazy in this severely dark area and not Rainbow Dash. Either way, Rarity blasted the door with her magic and out came Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We had then started going back towards the junction from where we had parted ways with Twilight.

We had waited for Twilight for a few more moments. When she finally arrived back, she was accompanied by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance.

"Where is Princess Celestia?" I asked. I had drawn a few eyes from those who hadn't noticed me before.

"What happened to you, Robert?" Princess Cadance asked me.

"Well," I began, "I believe King Sombra's magic is behind this doing."

"Right," added Twilight, "Robert must have absorbed the majority of the magic King Sombra attacked us with and that might have something to do with his smaller stature."

"And let me tell you," I continued, "I don't want to stay like this any longer. So does anypony know any spell that can change me back to normal?"

"Princess Celestia is the only pony who knows such spells and is the only one who can help you." Princess Luna told me.

After explaining my condition, everyone snapped back on track to my question: Where was Princess Celestia?


	22. Chapter 22

Hard Times - Part 22

"So where is Princess Celestia?" I asked the group of giant ponies.

"Is she not with you?" asked Princess Luna.

"We thought she was with you, to be honest." Twilight replied.

The commotion as to the whereabouts of Princess Celestia started getting out of hoof. I had decided to stay out of it until I began hearing something abnormal coming from deep within the dark hallways of the dungeons. I tugged at Rarity's mane gently, asking her to place me on the ground for a quick moment.

"What for, Robert?" Rarity quickly questioned, concerned about how safe I'll be in a room full of giant ponies.

"I need to know if I can feel any sort of movement." I replied. "Perhaps it'll help find our way out or even find Princess Celestia."

Rarity thought about that for a while. She appeared to be really concerned about my safety. Eventually, she answered me back.

"Fine, darling," Rarity told me, encasing me in her magic aura, "just be careful, Robert."

"I'll do just that, Rarity." I replied as Rarity set me down on the ground.

Fortunately for me, nobody above me was moving their hooves, so this made my concentration seem like clockwork. I crouched down onto the ground and began feeling vibrations of hooves striking the ground coming from down the hallway. I placed an ear on the ground so that I could track down the exact location of the vibrations. This was one of the easier things that I could do, but it would've been even easier had everyone not been bickering with each other.

After successfully locating the vibrations, I stood back up strongly, only to be overshadowed by everyone. I looked up and started shouting out to them, only to be silenced by a gigantic indigo colored hoof crashing down into the ground from which I was originally standing. I had managed to jump out of the way at the last second and immediately looked up to scold the owner of the hoof that almost killed me, though couldn't find the strength to do so since the owner of that hoof was Princess Luna. One does not scold a Princess; it's simply inhumane.

Anyway, I managed to get everyone's attention. How did I do that, you ask? Well, with Rarity's help, it was a fairly easy task.

"Thank you again, Rarity." I appreciated.

"No problem, darling!" Rarity replied, hurting my eardrums by accident.

"What's the matter, Robert?" Princess Cadance asked me.

"My honing abilities have discovered some movement up ahead down that hallway." I told everyone as I pointed to the hallway the vibrations came from.

"Do you think Princess Celestia could be down that hall?" Twilight asked.

"Beats me," I answered, "but that is a very good possibility."

"Let's check it out then." Pinkie Pie said happily.

"Lead the way, Robert." Princess Cadance said.

"I'd love to, Princess," I responded, "but I think this will go a lot quicker if I travelled with one of you."

"Allow me," Princess Luna inserted, wrapping her magic aura around my body and bringing me up to her back.

"Thank you, Princess Luna." I told her.

"You're quite welcome, Robert," Luna responded, "now hang on tight and tell me exactly where to go."

With that said, Luna quickly rushed down the hallway I pointed towards earlier. Upon reaching the end of that hallway, I told Luna to take a right turn and head down that hallway. She followed my orders, which, on a side note, was a pretty cool thing. As we rushed down the new hallway, my ears began twitching violently, picking up the sudden sound coming from near the position I triangulated earlier.

"Whatever is nearby," I started, "they're making a whole lot of noise."

"What do you mean?" A tired Twilight asked.

"They're close by." I replied.

As we neared the end of the new hallway, my ears twitched towards the left side a bit, which was odd since the only thing on the left side of us was a doorway. On our right was a completely segregated hallway that led to absolutely nothing. My ears violently twitched towards the door and I concluded that whatever was making the sound was just beyond this doorway.

"They're just beyond this door." I told Luna.

"Well then," Luna responded, "we meet our troublemaker then."

Luna grabbed a hold of the large, metal doorway with her magic and swung it open. Inside the room was completely dark. I had jumped off Luna's back and began triangulating the exact position of the being here in this room. Once I managed to do so, I approached the being and confronted them, regardless of size difference.

"Over here, everypony!" I shouted.

"Oh, dear me..." Cadance quietly spoke.

"Sister," Luna started, rushing over to greet her sister, barely missing me in the process, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, my sister," Celestia responded, "simply fine."

"That's great news, my dear sister." Luna responded.

"Where are we?" Celestia quickly asked.

"From the looks of it," Twilight started, "we're in the dungeons underneath Canterlot."

"Is everypony unharmed?" Celestia questioned, concerned about the health of everyone else.

"We're all fine, for the most part." Cadance answered.

"What's wrong?" Celestia responded.

"Umm...I'm wrong, Your Highness." I answered, glancing up at the gigantic alicorn herself. She was already taller than everybody in the room, but now she looked as if she could easily dispose of me without even trying.

"What happened, Robert?" Celestia asked me as she bent down to get closer to me.

"I shrunk in size considerably, Your Highness," I replied, "most likely the reason being King Sombra and his dark magic."

"I believe that Robert absorbed the majority of King Sombra's dark magic, resulting in his smaller stature." Twilight added.

"With all due respect, Princess Celestia," I continued, "can you please help me out?"

"I may be able to help you out, Robert," Celestia responded, "but since King Sombra's magic did this to you, my magic might not have any effect on you for quite a while."

"I'll take any chance I can get, Your Highness," I told her, "just please help me out..."

"Fine," Celestia agreed, "hold still."

I did my best to stay as still as humanly possible. I felt the Princess' magic wrap itself around me and begin to do something to my body. I had forcefully shut my eyes, only opening them up due to a loud sound reminiscent of a cork bottle popping after I felt something go a tad bit wrong.


	23. Chapter 23

Hard Times - Part 23

"Are you okay, Robert?" Princess Luna asked me.

"Are you hurt?" Princess Celestia added.

"I'm fine..." I meekly replied.

I looked around a bit and noticed that everyone was still taller than I was. I was a bit disappointed that the Princess' magic failed to fix me and change me back to normal.

"I see that the magic failed..." I confidently said.

"I'm sorry, Robert." Celestia told me.

"Don't be, Your Highness," I happily replied, "after all, you did say that there was a possibility that this would not work. I didn't really get my hopes up that high after you said that."

It did hurt me a bit to know that I'll still have to have my guard sky high when it comes to being near these ponies that can easily crush me. However, Rarity did being me up onto her back for my safety.

"I'd feel better if you were kept in safe hooves, Robert." Rarity exclaimed.

"Thank you, Rarity." I thanked.

Rarity smiled as she brought her head closer towards the top of mine. I wasn't too sure what she was doing, though I soon found out after Rarity had puckered up her lips and gave me a kiss.

THAT caught me WAY off my guard. I'm sure if Spike were here, he'd be really jealous of me at this moment. Either way, I enjoyed that kiss, even if it came from a fictional character in a fictional world.

"How do we find a way out?" Applejack asked.

"Just leave that to us." Twilight answered, pointing towards Princess Cadance in the process.

If anyone knew the way out of these dungeons, it was the two of them. After all, both of them had been trapped here back in Season 2's two-part finale while Queen Chrysalis wreaked havoc within Canterlot playing the role of Princess Cadance.

Twilight and Cadance led the lot of us through the dark and mysterious dungeons, finally reaching the outside world in almost no time at all. Once we had arrived outside, however, we were treated to a fairly unwelcoming sight.

All around Canterlot, dark gemstones, reminiscent of those back in the Crystal Empire when Sombra tried taking over again, had lined up everywhere and popped out of the ground.

"King Sombra is attacking Canterlot!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

_Thanks, Captain Obvious... _I harshly resided.

"We must get back towards the Canterlot Castle to defeat him." Celestia told us.

Upon hearing that, we had all rushed over towards the castle as quickly as our hooves could carry us. Rarity made sure to be extra gentle with me, making sure I didn't slip off or get left behind. Sure we may have been the last ones to reach the Canterlot Castle, but it was vital that I was here. I may be tiny now, but that doesn't mean I still can't use my Element of Harmony. For all we know, my Element of Happiness could be the key to defeating King Sombra while using the other Elements of Harmony.

"We best attack now!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Hold on there, Rainbow!" I responded, getting Rainbow dash to stop dead in her tracks.

"What!?" She shot back.

"That's what King Sombra wants us to do." I told her. "Trust me, villains all work the same way."

"Explain yourself, Robert!" Demanded Luna, her voice pounding my eardrums, causing me to tend to them a bit before replying to her.

"Well," I slowly started, "if I can recall upon every hero-versus-villain scenario I've seen in my life, every time the hero attacks shortly after being attacked and/or overthrown by the villain, the hero usually ends up losing once more. Back home, there was a superhero that went by the name of Batman who had a formidable opponent and arch-rival who went by the name of The Joker. The Joker had threatened and beaten Batman at his own game, causing Batman to take on The Joker face-to-face. Batman lost that fight so he had to change his approach a bit and, although that took a long time, he was able to defeat The Joker the only time he needed to beat him."

"What are you saying, Robert?" Celestia asked me.

"Yeah," added Rainbow Dash, "what are you getting at exactly?"

"What I am 'getting at,' Rainbow Dash," I continued, "is that we need to plan this onslaught out carefully if we wish to overthrow Sombra from Canterlot. Do you get what I am saying now?"

"I guess so..." Rainbow Dash softly replied.

"But how do we go about beating King Sombra, Robert?" Twilight asked.

"Leave that to me." I assured Twilight.

I immediately began plotting a way to overthrow that horrid King Sombra. It only took me a couple of minutes to fully derive a plan and, once I did, I shared it with the others.

"Okay," I began, "do I have everypony's attention?"

"You may certainly proceed, Robert." Celestia told me.

"Good," I continued, "now, in order to beat King Sombra, this is what we're going to have to do. Since there is only one way of entering and exiting the throne room without flying, I'll need both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to fly up to two opposite windows and hold down King Sombra with your magic. After that, the rest of us will charge into the throne room and, while King Sombra is still dazed and confused, we'll use our Elements to defeat King Sombra. If, however, King Sombra reverts his attention back towards us, which is a high possibility, Princess Cadance here will use her magic to fully stop King Sombra in his tracks. If this all plays out as well as it's supposed to, we'll successfully be able to overthrow King Sombra and reinstate Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as the true rulers of Canterlot. Sound good to everypony?"

"It sounds good, Robert." Twilight praised me, closely followed by appraisal coming from everyone.

"Then let's overthrow ourselves a King." I confidently spoke.

With that being said, Celestia and Luna quickly and instinctively flew up to two opposite windows of the throne room, making sure to go undetected, while the rest of us charged our way towards the throne room.

Once we were outside the throne room, I gave a quick nod to Celestia and Luna outside the windows as the rest of us blasted through the large, double-wide doors.

"Alright, King Sombra," I shouted, "your reign of terror has..."

I was stopped short by some surprises that I was definitely not expecting.

"No..." I quietly said. "It. Can't be..."


	24. Chapter 24

Hard Times - Part 24

"Surprise!" A familiar foe shouted.

"But...but why?" I asked.

"Why are you here?" demanded Celestia.

"Hahaha," King Sombra laughed, "this is truly a sight to see, isn't it Discord?"

"Oh, it truly is an amazing sight, Sombra." Discord replied.

"Why are you doing this, Discord?" A quiet Fluttershy asked.

"What about the magic of friendship?" I added, reminding Discord of his reformed days.

Discord flew over towards me and glanced heavily at me. He seemed to be a bit intrigued about my small size and appeared to toy with me a bit, though I couldn't really confirm that entirely.

"And who exactly are you?" Discord asked me.

"That's none of your business, you abominable freak!" I shouted in reply.

"Oh, I'm the freak, am I?" Discord answered, hovering a hoof over my body in the air, sending it crashing down into the ground that once supported my weight as I jumped out of the way.

"Yes you are!" I told him.

"Have you looked I the mirror lately?" snapped Discord.

"Enough!" Celestia yelled out, trying to calm the tensions between Discord and myself.

"Come here, Robert," Rarity called, though it was more of an order, seeing how I was being forcefully brought over towards her and placed on her back.

"Thank you, Rarity," I said, "it would have turned a bit ugly had we been left alone..."

"And that's why we're here, darling," responded Rarity.

Rarity kissed me on my head once more as we paid our attention towards the two horrible villains that were presently in our presence. Celestia and Luna had approached both King Sombra and Discord respectively and began conversing with them. It sounded like negotiations at first, but after I put two and two together, I noticed that both Princesses were threatening the two villains to leave peacefully if they didn't want anything to happen to them.

"Hahaha!" Laughed Discord and King Sombra.

"You really don't understand how villains work, do, do you?" Discord asked through his horrid laughing.

"Why on earth would we simply give up like that!?" Sombra added.

"Unless you both want to deal with the Elements of Harmony..." Celestia started.

"...you'd better kindly surrender now!" finished Luna.

Discord snapped his fingers as Celestia and Luna threatened the two dastardly villains. Nobody seemed to notice this besides me, however, when I tried bringing it to everyone's attention, I noticed we had bigger problems to cope with at the moment. Discord's magic somehow transported the Elements away from all seven of us!

_How can this be? _I thought. _I thought the Elements had a protection spell protecting them from something like this! How can they be gone!?_

I tugged at Rarity's mane gently in order to grab her attention. Once she turned her head so that it was facing me, I began to alert her that the Elements were transported away by Discord.

"That's preposterous, Robert," Rarity denied, "see?"

She pointed to her chest, only to find out that her Element was no longer attached to her neck. We glanced over towards everyone else and noticed that nobody had their Elements either.

"Twilight!" I called, fortunately getting her attention.

"What's the matter, Robert?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, dear," started Rarity, "our Elements, they're gone!"

Twilight began touching the top of her head with her hoof, trying to feel her crown that was no longer present. Once she concluded that her crown was no longer perched on top of her head, she glance over at everyone else and noticed that everyone's Elements was gone. Crossed, Twilight glared at Discord and demanded that he bring back the Elements immediately.

"Come now, Twilight," Discord replied, "if you want your precious Elements so badly, all you need to do is solve this riddle!"

"What riddle?" Twilight impatiently asked.

"You'll find your precious Elements once you solve this one rhyme," Discord laughed, "where does boiling and freezing at the same time!?"

"You'd better tell us where the Elements are, buddy!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "I mean it!"

"Oh come now, Rainbow Dash," Discord replied, "that's no fun."

"You'll never find your precious Elements of Harmony now!" King Sombra shouted as he used his dark magic to throw us all out of the throne room.

We had all hit the ground hard after King Sombra threw us out of the throne room. I had managed to stay atop Rarity's back the entire time, though when she landed on her back as we were tossed, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I could've sworn that Rarity would've crushed me to death there, but I guess I was spared there. Still, it was a pretty alarming site.

Everyone stood back atop their hooves as we began to think about Discord's riddle as to the whereabouts of the Elements of Harmony.

_Where does boiling and freezing at the same time._ Rang Discord's words in my head.

"What could that mean?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Boiling and freezing," I said quiet enough so that nobody could hear me, "boiling and freezing..."

_I've heard that terminology before,_ I thought, _but where..._

"Ah don't know, y'all," admitted Applejack.

"Yeah," inserted Rainbow Dash, "c'mon Twilight. You gotta know this. You're like super smart."

"I honestly am just as stumped as you are, Rainbow," Twilight said.

"That is a very peculiar riddle, everypony." Luna sympathized.

_Boiling and freezing..._ I repeated in my head, _boiling and freezing..._

"Could it mean that there's an ice cream truck on fire somewhere?" Pinkie asked, bouncing all over the place.

"I don think so, Pinkie," Twilight answered.

_Boiling and freezing..._

That's when it came to me. I've heard this same riddle before on an old cartoon (**_A/N: First one to figure out what show wins a cookie!_**). The answer to this riddle was so obvious!

"I know it!" I shouted out, making myself the center of attention.

"What does it mean then, Robert?" Twilight asked me.

"Boiling and freezing is code for location!" I replied.

"What do you mean?" Asked Princess Cadance.

"The freezing point of water is zero degrees Celsius while the boiling point it two hundred and twelve degrees Celsius." I explained. "So all we have to do us search the areas that have a coordinate plane of 212° East or West and 0° on any regular coordinates orientated map! We locate these areas, we locate our Elements of Harmony!"

"Robert," Twilight replied, "you're a genius!"

"We need to hurry!" I warned. "We're running out of time to overthrow those villains! Everyone split up ad retrieve the Elements, then meet back here on the double! Go!"


	25. Chapter 25

Hard Times - Part 25

"Robert, quick question." Rainbow Dash asked.

"Sure," I replied, "what's up?"

"Well," continued Rainbow Dash, "it's more of a question Twilight has."

"Alrighty then," I said, turning towards Twilight, "what's your question, Princess?"

"Hey," Twilight explained, "watch yourself!"

"My apologies, Twilight," I told her, "now what was it you wanted to ask?"

"Well," started Twilight, glancing heavily down at me, "you do understand that there is no such thing as a 212° East or West, right?"

"But there is such a thing as a 212° coordinate plane, Princess." I replied.

Twilight glared at me harshly. "You're pushing it, Robert," she said, pointing one of her hooves towards her stomach, "wouldn't want anything to happen to you, you know."

"Am I detecting some negative aura reminiscing from you, Twilight?" I playfully asked.

I sometimes wish I could shut my big mouth from time to time. Why, you ask? Well, for one, it gets myself in trouble, especially now. Allow me to explain: Twilight took that comment the wrong way and wrapped her magic aura around my body, bringing me up and dangling me above her head. I tried reasoning with her and apologizing as much as I could.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," I pleaded, "I'm so, so, so sorry! I'll make sure it won't happen again! Please don't hurt me..."

Twilight stared heavily at me, shutting her open mouth slowly. "Fine," she finally said after some tense silence, "I'll hold you to that promise."

She then gently placed me back on the ground and bent down so the she could whisper something else to me.

"However," she started, "if I feel that you're breaking your promise," she pointed towards her stomach once more, "next time, I won't be so nice about it."

"You have my word, Prin...uhh, I mean, Twilight." I replied.

"Good boy." answered Twilight.

_How does Spike deal with you? _I thought to myself.

It's as if Twilight read my thoughts as she turned around and gave me a very intriguing smile. As I watched her smile at me, I was being wrapped once more with some magic aura, this one belonging to Rarity seeing how it was a light blue colored aura covering me. I glanced over at Rarity as she once again placed me on her back. She turned her head to face me and smiled back at me.

"I don't know if I should be scared of Twilight or not." I whispered to her.

"Now, darling," Rarity quietly replied, "Twilight's just having some fun, seeing how cute you are, all small and tiny."

"I don't know, Rarity." I meekly answered. "After all, she was nearly close to eating me just there."

"I'm certain she wouldn't have eaten you." Rarity assured.

As Twilight walked out of the room, leaving just Rarity and myself, I began questioning that logic.

"How certain are you of that, Rarity?" I asked.

"Fairly certain, darling," answered Rarity.

"I wish I could believe you, dear..." I said, unaware of how exactly I finished that statement.

"Pardon," Rarity quickly asked, "did you just call me 'dear,' darling?"

"I guess I did," I replied, "sorry if I overextended my word play."

"It's quite alright, Robert," Rarity said, "I actually like it. The way you said it with such sophistication and so professional like, it really was interesting and appreciative."

"Well," I chuckled, "there's more where that came from, dear."

I walked up to Rarity's face and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Heck, it might have been all that I could see, but I clearly saw her blush a nice, magnificent magenta color.

"Oh, Robert," Rarity quietly said so that she wouldn't hurt my ears, "how unexpected."

"Too much, Rarity?" I asked without hesitation.

"Perhaps," she replied, "but I do very much enjoy it, darling."

"Well, like I said," I continued, "there's more where that came from."

With that said, I once again gave Rarity a kiss on her cheek, which she seemed to enjoy, topped off with her giggling a bit.

"Oh, Robert, darling," Rarity said, "you do know how to treat and respect a lady with glamor and perfection."

She then turned her head towards where I was and lightly kissed me on top of my head.

_Spike,_ I thought to myself, _you surely would be jealous of me._

Suddenly, the door to the throne room opened wide up and out came Discord and King Sombra. Rarity had turned her attention over from me towards the two villains as she began shuffling backwards.

"Well, well, well," began Discord, "look who we have here, Sombra!"

"Run, dear..." I whispered into Rarity's ear.

She took my advice and turned straight around and attempted running away. Unfortunately, and I don't know how this slipped my vision, King Sombra was standing right behind us and began shunting us back into the throne room. With the heavy doors slamming shut behind us, Discord dragged us over towards the throne he had claimed as his own and began grounding us while Sombra held us down with his magic.

"Now," Discord said as he chained down Rarity, "we'll never be defeated!"

"The Elements of Harmony won't work without all of you!" Sombra added. "Not that you would've found them anyway."

Discord then spotted me as I tried hiding myself inside Rarity's mane. Rarity noticed this and tried to motion her mane so that I could attempt to escape from Discord, however, he grabbed me with his horrible, dreadfully piercing claw.

"Now, what do we have here?" Discord said, dangling me in front of his face.

"Put. Me. Down!" I demanded.

"Now why would I do that?" Discord added.

"Put that pest in this." Sombra requested, magically spawning a little jar to put me in.

"Excellent idea, Sombra!" praised Discord, dropping me into the jar and slamming the lid shut.

"Robert, darling!" Rarity cried.

I got back up, only to stumble down as the jar I was in was slammed down on a table located next to Rarity.

"Robert, darling," Rarity asked, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine, dear," I replied, "how about you?"

"Simply fine, darling," answered Rarity, "though I wish these shackles were taken off of me."

"Can't you use your magic?" I asked.

Rarity motioned her head so that her mane would move out of the way so that I could see her horn, which was being covered by this unusual dark pebble.

"Whatever this is," Rarity told me, "it's forbidding me to use my magic..."

"And that's a great way to keep you two here!" Shouted Sombra.

"And when the Elements of Harmony return with Celestia, Luna, and Cadance," added Discord, "we'll finally get rid of them all!"

_No..._ I thought.

I looked over towards Rarity, who had a look of disbelief attached to her face. Looking back at Discord and King Sombra, I vowed to myself that they would pay for what they have done.


	26. Chapter 26

Hard Times - Part 26

I had paced around inside this small jar for what seemed like hours. Outside, the sun had set a long time ago, so now it was as dark as it was when we were inside the Everfree Forest searching for the Element of Happiness.

_Haven't these guys ever heard of a candle?_ I thought to myself.

I glanced over towards Rarity, who had collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion. She had fallen asleep for the night, as did Discord and King Sombra, leaving me as the only pony who had still been wide awake.

I was pacing around to search for a way out of this jar I was in. I looked up and noticed a tightly screwed in cork, making an escape from the top futile. However, when I looked down towards the bottom of the jar, I noticed that the jar wasn't fully placed on the table I was on.

I began deriving a plan almost instantaneously afterwards. _Hmm...if I could somehow tip over this jar, maybe the impact will be strong enough to shatter this jar and free me._

I took a long look around the room and noticed that everyone else was in a tremendously deep sleep. I decided that if there were a time to escape, now would be the perfect time. I backed up all the way to the end of the jar then, taking a deep breath, charged towards the opposite end with all my might, crashing into it and making the jar tilt a bit, but not tip over. I had backed up all the way once more, and proceeded to pull the same action as before.

As I crashed into the side of the jar, I began to feel it tip over. I tried attaining some sort of grip on the side of the jar, but couldn't do so, sending me spiraling out of control as the jar was sent crashing down to the ground. My head was near the ground when the jar started to shatter. Luckily for me, the shattered glass seemed to have missed my head.

I shook off the motion sickness fairly easily and located Rarity, whose elegant body was lying on top of the chains that were keeping her grounded and motionless. I tried removing the chains from under Rarity myself, but seeing how small I am and how heavy Rarity was compared to my current state, that did not go well. Seeing how that failed, I positioned myself face-to-face with the slumbering Rarity and rubbed myself against her cheek as gently as possible so that she wouldn't be too startled, should she have woken up.

My horn had begun scratching Rarity's elegant, white colored fur as I began my attempts to wake the lovely Element of Generosity up from her lovely looking slumber. Even with chains attached to her body, Rarity still made that look so incredible.

Getting back on track here, after a while, Rarity had begun waking up. Startled and annoyed, she quickly glanced over towards the other side of the room, noticing that it was completely empty.

"Robert, darling," Rarity quietly started, "how on earth did you escape your jar?"

"I'll explain later," I replied, "but now we need to escape here."

"How do you suppose we'll escape?" questioned Rarity.

"Well, for one," I said, "I'll need you to stand up fully while I attempt to uncouple these chains."

"Fine," agreed Rarity, "just please be careful, dear. I don't want to hurt you, you know."

"I'll be extremely careful, dear," I answered in reply as I started uncoupling Rarity's gigantic chains.

It wasn't hard really, seeing how my hooves were smaller than the keyhole to each ankle bracelet. All I did was stick my hoof inside each keyhole and shuffle it about for a few moments. Since I picked tons of locks back home (I'm not proud of that, by the way), I knew exactly what I was looking for and immediately managed to get it in each lock, successfully unlocking each ankle bracelet and freeing Rarity from her chained imprisonment. The last thing I needed to work on was getting off the pebbles that had attached themselves to Rarity's horn.

"Could you crouch down,Rarity, so that I can remove the pebbles from your horn?" I politely asked.

"Sure thing, dear," answered Rarity, "watch out."

Rarity crouched her entire body down onto the ground slowly, making sure she wouldn't crush me in the process. She touched base with the ground so smoothly, I didn't even hear the roar I usually hear when anything moves and touches the ground. She lowered her head so that I may examine the black pebbles a bit further.

"Okay," I started, "I'm going to try something right now. If it begins to hurt you, please tell me to stop."

"Sure thing, darling," replied Rarity, allowing me to climb onto her horn.

What I had planned in mind was to use my horn to scrape off the black pebbles from Rarity's horn. If it worked, then perhaps Rarity's magic abilities won't be disturbed anymore.

I had started grinding my horn onto Rarity's horn, plucking off some of the weaker pebbles. I had scraped off the weaker pebbles first, then focused on those pebbles that were a bit harder to clear away.

"Does it hurt, dear?" I asked.

"Not at all, sweetie," answered Rarity.

_I like the sound of that, _I thought after hearing that answer, _sweetie._

A few moments more had passed by before I scraped off the last of the black pebbles from Rarity's horn. After jumping off, I turned and faced Rarity, telling her that she should be able to perform magic now without any kind of disturbance.

"Let's see, sweetie," said Rarity, focusing her magic on me.

I began to feel a sort of warm sensation as I began to get wrapped up in some light blue aura. I jumped to the conclusion that Rarity was able to use her magic once more, but didn't say anything until I had been released by the magic. The magic aura brought me from where I was on the ground, looking up at the beautiful giant unicorn, up to Rarity's back, where she had gently placed me on top of. There, Rarity turned her head around and gave me a little kiss on top of my head.

"Thank you so much, sweetie, for helping me out so much!" She told me.

"No need to thank me," I replied, "let's just focus on escaping from here first before anything else happens."

With that said, Rarity had began rushing out of the deserted throne room with me notched upon her back. We had escaped the throne room with ease, though it was escaping the castle that would prove to be a challenge seeing how this place was oozing guards all over the place.

"We need to make sure we escape undetected, dear," I whispered.

"Exactly what I was thinking, Robert." Rarity replied as we began traveling down a flight of stairs.


	27. Chapter 27

Hard Times - Part 27

"Wait here," I told Rarity, jumping off her back for a quick second, "let me make sure the coast is clear."

"Sure thing," answered Rarity, "just please be careful sweetie."

I gave a flirtatious nod back at Rarity, then turned the corner and positioned myself so that I could detect anything coming from anywhere else in these hallways. My body hugged the ground while my ear touched base with it and after a few tense minutes, I was able to confirm that we were alone for the time being.

I came back to Rarity and told her that we could proceed down the next few halls, seeing how there was not a single trace of anybody down any nearby halls. Rarity nodded, then slowly and quietly began following me. I had to sprint while Rarity maintained pace with me utilizing an extremely slow pace. For every dozen steps I took, Rarity probably only took one or two, that just goes to show you how different in size we are.

I came to a sudden halt as I started hearing something from a hallway further down from where we were. I felt Rarity's hoof touch my rear side, which honestly scared me more than getting caught. In fact, that probably frightened her more than it did me, seeing how she jumped back and immediately started asking me if I was hurt or unharmed. She felt so bad that she almost crushed me, but we had bigger problems at the moment. I let the near miss slide for now, though I would've let it slide period, while I hugged the ground once more and placed an ear on the ground.

"Someone's down that hallway." I told Rarity, pointing towards a nearby entranceway.

"But that's out way out..." replied Rarity.

"Wait..." I said, "they're coming closer..."

"We need to hide." Rarity exclaimed.

Instinctively, I stood up and hugged Rarity's hoof. I wasn't scared or anything. Honestly, I was more scared of being around gigantic ponies that could easily crush and kill me. However, when I hugged Rarity's hoof I felt an odd sensation; a magical sensation, if you will. I don't understand why I felt it hugging Rarity's hoof and not while I was on her back, but the sensation was making my horn glow my emerald colored aura once more. I tightly gripped Rarity's hoof, and after that, I felt nothing.

I had my eyes shut the entire time I hugged her hoof, so when I opened my eyes to see where she was, to my surprise, she was no longer there, though her voice was as close to me as it was prior to these unpredictable events.

"Robert, darling," she asked me from an undetermined location, "where are you sweetie?"

"Rarity?" I replied. "Where are you?"

"Why, I'm still in the same spot as before, dear," answered Rarity.

"As am I, sweetie," I responded.

"So what happened, then?" asked Rarity.

"I don't-"

I was cut off as I heard a door to the castle open up. I heard the door creak and creep open, followed by eight feminine voices. I assumed that they were Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Celestia, and everyone else, but I wasn't too sure since I still had no visual of them all.

As I gazed over towards the doorway, I saw two constantly moving shadows. The two shadows were taller than everyone else in the group and the part that was moving appeared as if it belonged to someone's head.

"I think it's Twilight and the others, Rarity." I said.

"Let's make sure that it is them first, Robert." replied Rarity.

"Right." I answered, paying more attention over towards the open doorway.

The shadows that were originally standing inside the doorway had finally begun moving and started proceeding further into the castle. As I got a closer look at the group, I confirmed that they were simply only Twilight accompanied by everyone else.

I had lifted my tight grip from Rarity and proceeded towards everyone else. What I didn't know was that once I had let go of Rarity, both myself and herself had reappeared fully in front of our eyes.

"What was that?" I asked myself out loud.

"Were we invisible?" questioned Rarity.

_How is that possible?_ I thought to myself. _I can't perform any kind of magic whatsoever..._

"That was indeed intriguing, Robert, darling." Rarity finished.

"You can say that again." I added.

Twilight and the others heard us conversing with each other and came over to greet us right away. The way Twilight greeted us, it was as if she hadn't seen us in years. She hugged us both tightly, which to me felt like she wanted to squeeze me to death, and then saw the confused looks in our faces.

"Lighten up, Twilight," I said, "we've been here for only a few hours."

"Few hours?" Twilight repeated.

"Why, yes, Twilight," Rarity assured, "we've been trapped in the throne room for-"

"For a few _years._" Interrupted Twilight.

"Few _years?_" I immediately responded.

"Yes," assured Twilight.

"How can that be?" Rarity asked as she turned her attention towards me.

"Why we were kept inside the throne room for mere hours." I told Twilight. "I remember that you and the others went in search for the Elements of Harmony that Discord hid accompanied by Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance."

"That happened about three years ago, Robert." Twilight meekly replied, crouching down to talk to me face-to-face.

"How could that have been a few years?" I questioned. "I was awake the entire time...at least I think I was."

"Robert," Celestia calmly started.

"Nopony has seen or even heard from either you or Rarity in three years." Luna added.

"You've both been gone during that time and we never found you." Cadance spoke.

"But if we've been here for that amount of time," I retorted, "how come nobody thought to search for us?"

Silence trickled down after as nobody dared respond to my question.

"How come nobody searched for us for three years if you knew where we were?" I demanded.

I actually was fuming right now. However, I figured that since I'm still much smaller in size compared to everyone else, I'd better not lose my cool, or else I'd be the one who would pay for their actions.

"Twilight," Rarity called while using her magic to place me on her back.

Twilight stood back up as I was placed down on top of Rarity's back. I guess Rarity knew the circumstances of my fuming mood and knew just what could happen if someone took it the wrong way, so she made it a mission to provide me with safety. Twilight looked away while I was placed upon Rarity's back.

"Discord and King Sombra are the ones who rule Equestria now." Twilight regretfully spoke.

My jaw dropped as that sentence penetrated and violated my ears. Honestly, loud sounds could hurt me, but this just killed me. What happened to the two of us?


	28. Chapter 28

Hard Times - Part 28

"Say it ain't so, Twilight," I said.

"I'm afraid it is, Robert." Twilight answered.

"How is that possible?" I asked Rarity.

"What exactly happened on the day we formerly disappeared?" Rarity asked Twilight, though she was looking at me and wrapping her head around my body.

I swear I felt a tear come down the side of Rarity's face as she wrapped her head around me. I knew how hard this was for both of us to take in, especially her. Because the two of us went missing for the last three years, Equestria was left without one of its most powerful means of defense. It hurt me pretty badly to know that because of our absence, Equestria fell to the likes of Discord and King Sombra.

"Well," began Twilight, "after we left the throne room, we immediately rushed toward the location you gave us, 212° and 0° according to the you."

"Once we arrived," Pinkie Pie continued, "we found the Elements of Harmony hanging from an oddly planted tree."

"It was then when we finally figured out that neither one of you had followed us there." Rainbow Dash said.

"After we rounded up the Elements," Applejack spoke, "we rushed straight back here to find y'all."

"But...umm," Fluttershy quietly added, "what we...umm...found was..."

"What we found was Discord and King Sombra had taken over and had you two as hostages." Celestia told us.

"The two threatened to end you both if we ever tried to break you out of the prison they had you in." Cadance added.

"We ultimately were forced to surrender, seeing how not a single one of us had the power to defeat either villain, let alone both of them." Luna said.

"After that, Discord and King Sombra forcefully removed us all from the throne room and assumed control of Equestria and...and it just hasn't been the same since then..." finished Twilight.

"And to think," I softly spoke to Rarity, "none of this wouldn't have happened if we had followed Twilight and the others out of the door to find our precious Elements."

"Oh, Robert, dear," Rarity replied, "don't be so hard on yourself."

I felt Rarity's head turn a bit. Most likely, I'm assuming she turned her head to face Twilight.

"I'm certain that there is a way to bring them down, if you will." Rarity stated.

"We've already tried that, Rare," Applejack answered.

"But that was without our presence," I butted in, "perhaps if we were there to help, things might've ended a bit differently."

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to bust out of the prison Dipwad and King Stupid put us in?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Nothing can defeat us when we are all together." I protested.

That last statement made everybody think. I mean, really, really think. It was like I asked one of those life questions that everybody had to think about to get an answer to.

"Separate," I picked up after some tense silence, "we are all very different from each other, are we not?"

I saw everybody glance around towards each other, including the three princesses, though my statement was meant more towards the mane six, plus myself.

"Rainbow Dash is greatly athletic," I spoke, "whereas Rarity, here, is a unique fashionista. Applejack is a cowgirl herself, whereas Fluttershy is a timid Pegasus with many animal friends. Twilight here is an outgoing librarian and, now, a Princess, taking everything seriously with high sophistication and high needs, whereas Pinkie Pie is an outgoing pony, partying all night and day, while still finding energy to help out others. As for myself, I don't fit in here. My special talent is a talent that this world has yet to discover, at least that's what I believe. I am just as different as all of you, yet deep down, we are all the same, having the same problems and being brought closer together. Deep down, we all may be drastically different, but we are all friends and, more importantly, we are all ponies - mares and, in my case, colt. We all may not have a lot in common, but we all do bring out the best in each other, which is what makes us all great friends. It doesn't matter if we all had nothing in common or everything in common. What matters is that we are all great friends that have adventures, together, while bringing out the best in us, together, and while overcoming every obstacle, together, no matter what is thrown in our direction."

That was a truly deep statement I said. I began feeling a tear escape from my eye, so I quickly wiped it away with my hoof, hoping that nobody saw me tear up a bit. What I said, what everyone heard, was the honest and generous truth. We are all loyal towards each other, sharing plenty of laughs along the way, but deep down, we are all kind spirits, our friendship, truly magical. Together, we made ourselves truly happy and together, up until now, we have been able to overcome all obstacles that were thrown at us. Now, in a really tense time, the friendships we've all crafted need us now more than ever because it is within the friendships that we have that will change the world for the better. I took one last breath and finally finished my long, inspirational speech.

"Together, we've been able to overcome all challenges thrown at us." I stated. "This is no different. Our friendships need us now more than ever and it is within out friendships that we will find the strength to defeat Discord and King Sombra. What do you say?"

I held out my tiny hoof, hoping everybody would join me. After giving each other quick glances, everyone started joining me in unison, touching my tiny hoof in the process.

"He's right," Twilight agreed, "it is because of the friendships that we have crafted that we have been able to overcome all challenges thrown in our way. This challenge is no different than any other challenge given to us."

"Right," Celestia added, "now it's up to the friendships each of you have created and shaped up to bring down one of the most greatest threats Equestria has ever witnessed. It is up to you to bring order, peace, tranquility, and harmony back to Equestria. Are you up to the task?"

"We are, Princess," everyone stated.

"Good," Celestia continued, "now let us go and bring down Discord and King Sombra, together, using the Elements of Harmony and the magic of friendship."

With that said, Twilight led the group out of the castle we had been trapped in for a while, leading us straight towards the new castle that Discord and King Sombra called home.


	29. Chapter 29

Hard Times – Part 29

"There it is..." Twilight exclaimed.

"Wow..." I replied. "It's a lot bigger than I had previously imagined."

"Everything is a lot bigger than you imagined, Robert..." Twilight quietly spoke, but loud enough for me to hear her.

"Boy, you can sure say that again, _Princess _Twilight." I told her.

Twilight gave a sinister glare to me, knowing quite well that I knew the severe consequences for messing with her, in a playful manner, that is. I knew that very well, like you know, having some close calls along the way. This time, I failed to care, since I knew that Twilight got what was coming to her. I saw that Rarity was overlooking what was going on between Twilight and myself. I glanced over towards Rarity and proceeded to ask her a question.

"You'd protect me in my current state," I began, "right Rarity?"

"I'd do the best I possibly can, dear," answered Rarity as she levitated me on top of her back.

I loved the way Rarity answered my questions with integral honesty and sheer sophistication sounding within her English sounding voice. Either way, we all faced the large, dark castle that was in front of us and proceeded to go inside of it as we planned.

"Are you all ready?" Twilight asked, handing each of us our respective Element of Harmony.

"Ready, Twilight," we all said in unison upon receiving our Elements.

I was probably the most surprised out of everyone here for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the large castle surely caught me off guard, for I did not expect Discord and King Sombra to be ruling from a new, unseen castle. Secondly, I was surprised when I received my Element of Happiness. The necklace that goes around my neck (duh) had shrunk down to my size as well. I don't know if that was also the work of King Sombra - shrinking it, that is - or if Twilight had done that with her magic while she was handing over it to me. Either way, my Element was matching my size and, as I attached it to my neck, the remainder of the group proceeded to breach the perimeter of the castle.

"Everyone remember the plan?" Twilight cautiously asked.

"I have a feeling that this would go a lot smoother if we were invisible like before," I quietly offered to Rarity, "wouldn't you agree, dear?"

"I'd agree with you one hundred percent, Robert," replied Rarity, "but do you recall how exactly you were able to do that?"

"Not at all..." I meekly said,

I had phased out a bit, getting drawn in by the large details of the structure. Seeing a new castle that was never-before-seen on the show was astonishing, to say the least. I ha admired not only the complexion of the castle, but it's large stature as well. Once I began to phase back and pay attention to my surroundings again, I heard Twilight and Princess Celestia finish whatever it was they were saying to us all.

"...and that's how we'll go about this." finished Twilight.

"Sounds intriguing," Celestia responded, "now just remember: the throne room we are searching for resides towards the top of the castle."

"Stealth and silence is truly key here if we want to navigate the halls without being detected." Luna added, almost like she knew the sheer danger that roamed through the halls.

"Once we get to the throne room," Cadance continued, "it'll be up to you seven while Princesses Celestia and Luna, along with myself, attempt to hold down both Discord and King Sombra with our magic."

"Everyone understand the plan and the goal here?" Twilight questioned once more.

"Ready, Twilight," everyone replied in unison again (side note, the unison reply is kinda creepy a second time around, not so much the first time).

"Then let's move out!" ordered Twilight.

With that said, we began navigating through the dark, luminescent hallways, searching for the throne room and, more importantly, Discord and King Sombra. A few moments have passed by before Applejack had spotted a staircase over on the far side of the hallway we were currently in. The hallway was empty and quiet.

A bit too quiet if you ask me...

"Good job, Applejack," praised Twilight, "we'll use that staircase to get to the top floor quicker."

"Hold your horses, Twilight," I quickly said, causing Twilight and everyone to stop in their tracks.

"'Hold your horses?'" Twilight reiterated.

"It's an expression back home for me," I explained.

"Seems legitimate," answered Twilight.

"What's wrong, darling," Rarity asked as I jumped off her back.

"Something just doesn't seem right," I told everyone in general.

"What do you mean, Robert?" Pinkie Pie questioned.

"I mean, this seems too simple and too good to be true." I said. "Something must either be watching us, following us, or waiting for us down this hall. It just doesn't make sense how a large castle like this, which had two rulers at the top of it, has zero guards patrolling the halls."

"You make a good point," Celestia said, backing me up with appraisal and amazement.

"How do you think we should check to see if the coast is clear?" Fluttershy asked.

"That's where my small size comes in handy, finally," I answered back.

"What do you suppose you'll do?" Twilight immediately questioned.

"I'll go up ahead and make sure the coast is perfectly clear." I offered. "If it is, I'll come back and lead the way."

"Sounds like a plan," Rainbow Dash praised.

"Fine." Twilight added.

"Just be careful, Robert, darling." Rarity finished.

I smiled brightly at Rarity as I began proceeding down the large, dark hallway. My keen senses of navigating through thick and heavy darkness was perfect for this kind of job. It also helped in trying to locate any guards that were idly standing by.

_Not a single soul anywhere..._ I thought to myself.

I had reached the end of the hallway fairly quickly and failed to spot any guards along the way. I turned around and headed on back towards the group to confirm that we are able to continue down the hall without being noticed. Once I reached everyone again, I confirmed that it was safe to advance.

"Good work, Robert," Luna praised, causing me to smile brightly as I was being levitated once more onto Rarity's back.

"That was good work, Robert," Rarity added, turning and kissing my head in the process.

I felt so useful just now. It felt really good to know that my services are still helpful, even though my stature is completely small now.


	30. Chapter 30

Hard Times - Part 30

"How much longer until we get there?" A tired Rarity asked. "My hooves are killing me..."

"We've just started our ascension, Rarity." Twilight bluntly replied.

"What a long way to go, though..." I meekly added, "I mean, just look how high this staircase goes!"

Hypothetically speaking, as soon as I finished that statement, you could hear the eyes popping as the group gazed upward at the towering staircase. This reminded me of how Mario has to ascend up to the skies and descend to the bottom of the ocean, into the depths of a fiery, lava-filled castle, thwarting the plans of a freaking giant turtle day in and day out, over and over again, just to save the princess. This staircase reminds me of all that, believe it or not.

"Well, uhh, shall we proceed upwards?" I uncomfortably asked.

"Robert's right," Princess Cadance chimed, "the quicker we climb up, the quicker we can reach King Sombra and Discord."

We all then resumed navigating our way up the long, tiring staircase. Riding on Rarity's back, I began to slowly nod off and fall asleep. As I began to fully escape reality, the last item that passed by in my head was to hope to not fall off Rarity's back. The last thing I wanted was to be left behind by accident.

* * *

"The Elements," Twilight panicked, "why aren't they doing anything?"

"What did you do to them?" Princess Celestia demanded.

_What's going on?_ I thought to myself.

I looked around and checked my surroundings. Apparently, I was normal size and was standing between Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Behind us was Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance. Princess Luna, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

"Isn't this a wonderful surprise!" A new voice stated.

_That voice! _I shrieked, which is something I rarely ever do to myself. _It sounds too familiar!_

"What have you done to the Elements of Harmony, you freak!?" Rainbow Dash demanded to know.

"How dare you speak to your princess that way!" The new voice commanded.

_Princess? _I asked myself, only to be stopped by a magical attack striking me down.

"Robert!" Everyone screamed.

"Ohh...my head..." I groaned.

"Take that as a warning, you ungrateful whelp!" The voice stated.

"Robert," Fluttershy cried, "are you alright?"

"No..." I coughed. "My head is spinning round and round, like a record player, round, round, round..."

Although I had a dazed look in my eyes, I managed to see Twilight's and everyone's concerned look they had and noticed that each of them turned back around and turned their attention back towards the new voice.

"What have you done to the Elements!?" Princess Cadance demanded.

"Explain yourself, Princess Luna!" snapped Princess Celestia.

"I've told you time and time again, do. Not. Call, us. That. Name!" Princess Luna yelled.

"Calm down, Princess Luna!" I managed to shout, feeling some tense pain mount on the inside of my body, namely, my lungs and heart.

"Thou don't get us, does thou?" Princess Luna smirked.

"Robert's right," Twilight added, "you have to calm yourself down, Princess Luna. None of us wants to see you damage yourself."

"How can thou stop that which is unstoppable?" Princess Luna replied, blasting us all to oblivion.

"Princess Luna!" Celestia shouted. "Stop this, this moment!"

"Twilight!" Princess Cadance worriedly yelled.

"From this moment forward," Princess Luna started, "we shall forever be known as Nightmare Moon and the night. Shall last. Forever!"

Some lightning and thunder kicked in around Nightmare Moon's long, flowing mane for an additional effect. Princess Celestia tried to reason with Princess Luna - Nightmare Moon - but was unfortunately struck down by some magic that came from a new source. I had backtracked the magic to its point of origin and was shocked to find out that the originating point was Princess Cadance's horn!

"Sorry it had to be this way, Princess Celestia!" Cadance menacingly said.

"Ugh...Princess...Cadance?" I grunted and struggled to say. "But...but, why?"

"Because this is how it was meant to happen!" snapped Cadance, striking me down permanently with one final blast of magic.

_This can't be happening, _I thought, _it just can't..._

I heard hoofsteps come slowly over towards my position, two sets of hoofsteps to be more specific. I looked over my collapsed body and saw both Nightmare Moon and Princess Cadance tower over me.

"You've interfered with our plans one too many times!" Cadance spoke.

"Now you must be dealt with!" Nightmare Moon added, stomping one of her heavy hooves on my body.

I screamed out in pain, coughing up an alarming amount of blood in the process. I saw Cadance step forward a bit and gaze down at my beaten up body. She began saying something but, due to the amount of blood I had lost, I had started faxing out and began to lose consciousness. I saw Cadance tip her head over and jab her horn into my body, delivering the final blow that sent me spiraling into a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Gah!"

I found myself back as my "old" self - tiny, perched on Rarity's back, alive - as if nothing had happened at all. Apparently, however, my scream seemed to startle everypony else. Rarity jumped at the sound of my scream, almost causing me to fall off. She turned her head and began asking me if everything was fine.

"Everything is alright, sweetie," I replied.

"Then why on earth did you shout like that?" Rarity questioned.

"Umm...I felt something crawling around, umm, my mane and that frightened me," I lied, "I'm sorry if I scared any of you."

"It's fine, Robert," Twilight answered, stepping up to face me, "it was an accident. Accidents happen from time to time."

"Thank you for understanding, everypony." I spoke as we began continuing up the staircase.

"You're welcome, Robert." Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight replied in unison.

We pursued upward a little further before meeting an unusual door at the top of the staircase face-to-face. We all crowded around the door as Twilight began saying something.

"There it is," she started, "the door to the throne room..."

"Beyond this door lies Discord and King Sombra," Princess Celestia reminded us, "it is within this room where harmony will return to Equestria after a long absence."

"Everypony ready to go inside?" Twilight asked as Celestia finished her statement.

"We're ready, Twilight," we all spoke in unison (again, the unison thing is completely starting to scare the hell out of me).

"Then let's bring back harmony to Equestria!" Twilight assured us.


	31. Chapter 31

Hard Times - Part 31

Twilight had bursted through the doors to the throne room. Inside was a large, dark room, however, neither Discord nor King Sombra were anywhere to be seen. We had approached the thrones slowly, noticing that we were the only ponies inside the room, which was unusual to the maximum since there was only one way in and one way out, and this was the location where Discord and King Sombra had been ruling, according to Twilight and the others.

"So," I began, "where are they?"

"Are you sure we're in the right castle, Twilight?" questioned Pinkie Pie.

"This is the castle they have ruled from the last few years," Twilight replied.

"A+ for the brainiac!" A sinister voice spoke.

That dragged our attention away from each other and we began frantically looking around the room for the source of the voice. Well, putting it in perspective, Twilight, Rarity, along with the others were looking around frantically. I, on the other hand, was looking in the spot you'd least expect to find anything.

Above our heads.

I looked up, using my keen senses to locate any moving activity above us. The typical creature can't stay perfectly still at all; they have to move, as per their breathing. No matter how hard someone or something tries to remain still, they will be spotted because they are moving ever so slightly. I know that for a fact because, when I was younger, I used to go out into the nearby forest along with a few of my friends, and we'd play Capture the Flag with our paintball guns. I was always a sniper since my senses could easily locate anyone at any moment. I never got shot, but as for my friends on the enemy team, they always saw my paintballs splatter across either their chest, their helmet (which, on a side note, we made it so that only the snipers could aim for the head and, should anybody get shot in the head by a sniper, their "respawn" time was doubled from fifteen seconds to thirty), or their legs, if my aiming was off a bit. I could spot anyone within the shot/blast radius easily and always made myself known. Back home, I was known as the "Ghost Sniper," a a name given to me by my friends since I was silent, but deadly. Here, it was no different. I looked up and began searching for any slight movement. As my eyes neared the ceiling space around the door, I noticed a body up on the ceiling and made them known to everyone.

"He's over near the doorway, on the ceiling," I alerted everyone.

Everyone's head turned towards the ceiling around the doorway, though nobody believed me since their senses weren't as keen as mine were, so they failed to spot any movement.

"There's nothing there." Rainbow Dash spoke.

"I give you my word that they are there," I replied. I turned towards Twilight, "Go ahead," I said, "hit it with a magic beam or something."

"Alright," agreed Twilight, "but only because you seem so sure of yourself."

"Thank you." I happily obliged as Twilight shot the dark figure with some magic.

"It seems as if you know your stuff, Robert," the being stated, slowly falling to the ground as the magic Twilight was offering was pelting them.

"How do you know my name?" I hissed.

"Because you're the one the prophesy foretold of, stupid!" They replied, slowly approaching us all.

"Not. Another. Step!" I warned.

"And what are _you _gonna do about it, hmm?" The being mocked. "You can't use any magic now, not after what King Sombra did to you!"

"How do you know that!?" I demanded to know, wanting to give a piece of my mind to this beast, unfortunately knowing that I couldn't really do any physical damage to them.

"Because I was the one who told him to do that!" The being answered, stepping into some dim light to reveal themselves.

"And what have you done with King Sombra, Discord?" Princess Luna asked.

"He's being taken care of," Discord sinisterly replied, "permanently!"

I tugged on Rarity's mane slightly so that I could grab her attention. She turned her head and questioned what it was that I needed.

"If it's only him now," I whispered, "why not use the Elements now? I mean, it's not like we have to deal with two enemies simultaneously anymore. Discord foolishly took care of that for us."

"I'll bring that up with Twilight." Rarity told me, turning and facing Twilight.

Discord failed to notice Rarity as she began to approach Twilight fairly slowly. Once Rarity was within distance of Twilight, she whispered over my suggestion and nodded. Twilight then glanced over at Princess Cadance, who was overlooking both Twilight and Rarity and, from the looks of it, motioned her eyes towards Discord. Princess Cadance didn't quite understand the hint, so Twilight pointed towards her horn first, then motioned her eyes towards Discord, signaling that Twilight requested that she used her magic to hold down Discord. Princess Cadance understood the hint this time on account of magic aura encasing her horn as she began to hold down Discord.

"Well," began Discord, "this sure is a nice surprise, isn't it? I suppose now you'll all use those precious Elements of Harmony on me now, won't you?"

"Something doesn't seem right," I quietly spoke.

Rarity must have heard my thought since she turned her head around and asked me what I meant by that. I sighed then grabbed Twilight's attention as well, requesting her closer to me so that I could easily explain myself only once.

"What's the problem, Robert?" Twilight kindly asked.

"This doesn't seem right," I replied.

"How so?"

"It's as if Discord wants us to use the Elements of Harmony on him." I answered. "Plus, why would he suddenly get rid of King Sombra? I realize it's been a while since we've seen him, but suddenly King Sombra isn't around anymore? Something just doesn't feel right in this predicament."

"What do you suppose we do then, Robert?" Rarity asked me.

"Honestly," I replied, "this has happened once to me back home and the way I coped with it was that I proceeded to ask numerous amounts of questions - most of which were the same, on a side note - until I got the answers I was searching for."

"It would probably do us some good if we did the same to him." Twilight suggested. "And now might be the best time since Cadance has him held down."

"And if things start to get a little out of...hoof, Princesses Celestia and Luna could just add some sturdiness to the imprisonment of Discord with their magic." I added. "So now is probably the only good time we have since nobody is here and we have Discord trapped."

"Sounds like a plan." Rarity praised. "But what do you suppose we ask him?"

"Just leave that to me, sweetie," I said.

"It's up to you, Robert." Twilight told me. "You know how to deal with this better than any of us. We're counting on you."

"I'll do my best, Twilight." I responded as I jumped off Rarity's back and began approaching Discord.

"Be careful, Robert, darling," called Rarity.


	32. Chapter 32

Hard Times - Part 32

"Well, look who we have here..." Discord spoke.

I approached Discord cautiously, not knowing exactly what the master of chaos was capable of doing while being held down against his will. I was about a few feet away from Discord, though far enough so that I was outside his reach, should he try to stomp on me. I looked up at the draconequus and stared him down, hypothetically speaking, that is.

"...where is he?" I questioned.

"I told you," Discord answered, "I got rid of him."

"So, where is he?" I asked once more.

"I got rid of him." He said.

"And you got rid of him where, exactly?" I continued.

"Robert," Twilight called out.

I turned my head slightly, not taking my eyes off of the master of chaos at all. "Yes?" I called out to Twilight.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" She asked with uncertainty.

"Sounds like you're wasting your time." Discord added.

"Trust me on this one, Twilight," I answered in reply, "this may take a while, but I know exactly what to do."

"We're counting on you, Robert." Celestia told me.

"I won't fail you, girls." I assured them.

"You're wasting your time, Robert." Discord stated.

"Am I, really?" I questioned.

Reverse psychology was my master plan here. What I was trying to do was woo Discord into the trap and use his own words against him, ultimately revealing the location of King Sombra, his master plan, and, if possible, the history of Equestria these last few years.

"You are!" Discord snapped. I could sense anger in his voice, which was one step in the right direction for me in trying to lull him into my trap.

"So, Discord," I started after a while, "chaos must be a wonderful thing to you, isn't it?"

"Chaos, Robert, is a wonderful, wonderful thing in general!" Discord told me.

"And with great chaos comes great responsibility, am I not right?"

"You know your chaos material, Robert," Discord praised, "I'm utterly surprised by this."

"Well," I kept going, "my tiny size is an example of size chaotic-ness, right?"

"Correct again, Robert," Discord replied, "and size chaotic-ness is an easily fixable type of chaos."

"Oh, is it, now?" I questioned.

"If you'd like," Discord added, "I can make you your normal size in exchange for my release."

"I wasn't born yesterday, Discord," I spoke without hesitation, "two things are true as per your statement. First, this is King Sombra's doing, not yours. Second, if I had agreed to that, you'd request to be released first, then fix me up. Don't get me wrong, as much as I'd love to be back at my normal size again, if we released you, you wouldn't fix me up. You'd instead escape while the timing is right."

"How do you know that will happen entirely?" Discord asked me. I sensed that he was trying to convince me to release him.

"Well," I began, "let's just say that I know how villains work and what makes them tick, so to speak."

"And what do you suppose makes me tick, if you're so sure of yourself?" Discord continued. "Tell you what. You correctly guess what makes me tick, I'll fix you up without releasing me."

"Sounds intriguing," I answered back, "but I'm afraid I'll have to decline that generous offer."

I wasn't stupid in the slightest. That offer wasn't as dreaming as it sounded. Like I said, this was the work of King Sombra, and his magic compared to Discord's were two different kinds of magic. Plus, I knew that Discord was still trying to lull me into a state where he would be in control of the reverse psychology. I stood my ground and started tugging back on this metaphorical rope back in my favor.

"That was a generous offer, Discord," I stated once more, "but, I'll decline that offer. However, chaos and disharmony in Equestria is what makes you tick."

"Very well put, Robert." praised Discord.

"Thank you, Discord," I said.

"Once again, Robert," Twilight aided, "is this going anywhere?"

I turned around and approached Twilight. After coming close to her, I motioned for her to lend me an ear, so to speak. She bent down and I neared her ear so I could whisper my condolences to her.

"I'm trying to lull Discord into reverse psychology." I said. "If I can do that, I'll get him to reveal the whereabouts of King Sombra, his plan, and, in my case, the history of Equestria these last few years, but I'll need some more time since this is the master of chaos I'm dealing with."

Twilight pulled away her head and looked down upon me. She nodded slowly as she began to approach Princess Celestia, who probably didn't understand fully what I was doing either. I, on the other hand, turned around and approached Discord once more.

"So," I picked up, "chaos...wonderful thing, isn't it?"

"The best, Robert." Discord replied again.

"I'm just stumped," I slowly stated, trying to drag Discord into my trap indirectly.

"About what?"

"I'm stumped to the chaotic disappearance of King Sombra," I continued, "what happened to him? Do you know?"

"I told you," Discord stated, "I got rid of him permanently."

"So, where is he?" I asked.

"Not here in this room, I'll tell you that." answered Discord.

"And by that you mean...?"

"He's not in the throne room." assured Discord.

"Would he be on the first floor?" I asked.

"Nope." Discord said.

"Second?" I replied.

"Nope."

"Third?"

"Nope."

"Is he inside this castle?" I asked.

"Perhaps." answered Discord.

"...tell me," I said once more, "is he here in this room?"

"Not at all." Discord stated.

_His answer was different to the other ones, _I thought, _King Sombra is located somewhere inside this room._

"Twilight," I called out, "could you go along the perimeter of this room and search for King Sombra with the others? I have a strong feeling he's here with us."

I gave Discord a comfortable smirk as I requested that Twilight search the perimeter. I noticed Discord had a troubled look upon his face as I knew that he knew that I was right to trust my instincts.


	33. Chapter 33

Hard Times - Part 33

"What's the matter, Discord?" I asked, playing around with his emotions. "Something troubling you?"

Discord paid his attention towards me once more, trying to successfully get rid of the concerned look he had on his face, though it was no use.

"It's just that you're all wasting your time!" Discord stated, uncertainty sounding within his voice.

"If you're so sure of yourself that King Sombra isn't here," I replied, "what do you have to lose?"

"I have nothing to lose," Discord answered. "You, however, have everything to lose."

"And by that you-"

"We found him, Robert!" interrupted Princess Luna.

I looked over towards her location and saw King Sombra being held down by Princess Luna's magic as well as Princess Celestia's magic. I looked back towards Discord and began toying with him once more.

"I thought he wasn't here." I playfully remarked.

"Well, I, uhh, I thought he wasn't here." Discord quickly answered.

"Well here he is." I assured as Princesses Luna and Celestia dragged King Sombra next to Discord.

Discord gave King Sombra a harsh glare, almost as if their master plan had developed a problem inside itself. I still wanted to play with Discord's emotions and, now, King Sombra's emotions. I wanted to do this until King Sombra reversed whatever he did to me and make me normal size, not fun sized.

"So, King Sombra," I began, "life as a king must be rough, especially with this one here always in your way."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Discord snapped.

"Relax," I stated, "I'm sure it must not be all fun and games ruling alongside this unicorn, am I right?"

"Easy for you to say." Discord replied.

"You'd better watch yourself, tiny!" King Sombra barked.

"You know," I continued, "that brings me to my next point: why am I small? Do you know anything about this?"

"Maybe I do," King Sombra snickered, "maybe I don't. What's it to you?"

"Well," I said, "I'd like to know since I was hoping that whoever did this could reverse it and make me normal sized."

"Well, that. Isn't. Going, to. Happen!" King Sombra crossly replied.

"Is that so, King Sombra?" I quickly replied. I began pacing around, which, back home, was a tactic that made people a tad nervous. "Need I remind you, King Sombra, that you are being held down against your will by two regal, beautiful princesses. I'm quite certain that, if I kindly request to do so, they will increase the power holding you down and suffocate you if you don't cooperate nicely."

I gave Princesses Celestia and Luna a quick glance and noticed that they had both nodded their heads, showing that they would indeed increase the power holding down King Sombra if need be.

"So, I'll ask you again," I kindly continued, "if you know who is responsible for my tiny size, King Sombra, I'd love to know so I can request a reversal of it."

"Like I said before, shrimp," King Sombra stated, "That is not going to happen!"

"To each their own, I guess," I replied. I turned towards the two regal princesses and kindly nodded at both of them. "If you would, please?"

"Absolutely, Robert," Princess Celestia answered.

"Of course." added Princess Luna.

I turned back towards King Sombra, smirking a bit. As the power that was holding him down began to suffocate him, I gave off a larger smile. As King Sombra tried enduring the suffocation, I turned towards Discord and warned him as well.

"Don't think that this won't happen to you as well," I began, "because I'm fairly certain that the beautiful Princess Cadance would do the exact same thing if I kindly asked her, right Princess?"

"Of course, Robert," Cadance replied, smiling brightly at Discord and myself.

"Trust me, Robert," Discord said, "that's the least of our problems."

He gave me an unusual grin. I took note of that, seeing how I knew that neither Discord nor King Sombra could be trusted. Call it being overly dramatic or something but, me being an experienced hunter, I could sense when something goes wrong and fast. I trotted back over towards King Sombra, who appeared to be holding his breath a bit. When someone or something is caught in a trap, holding their breath is the last thing they would want to do, since, when holding your breath under pressure, you tend to pass out quicker than from the pain that would be delivered to you, if there was any that is.

"Stop!" King Sombra shrieked, which surprised the (pardon my language) shit out of me.

"What's that?" I questioned immediately.

"Stop!" Sombra shouted once more. "I'll fix you! Just please stop the pain!"

"Hmm..." I began weighing the decision inside my head. "I don't know...what do you think, Twilight? Should we stop the pain so he can fix me?"

"Oh, please!" Sombra shouted, voice a little higher pitched from the suffocation. "For the love of Celestia, please say yes!"

"Hmm..." Twilight throught, herself weighing the decision as well, "I don't know. You promise to fix Robert up if we stop the suffocation?"

"Yes!" Sombra answered, higher pitched voice once more. "Yes, yes yes!"

"So," Twilight restarted, "how do you feel about that, Robert?"

"I feel hopeful, Twilight," I answered, "and as so, I kindly ask Princesses Celestia and Luna to cease the suffocation, though continue to hold him down."

"Of course, Robert," replied Celestia.

"Remember, Sombra," Luna added, "we'll start the suffocation once more if you don't fix Robert correctly."

King Sombra struggled to breath and grasp for air. He was still being held down against his will, though he struggled mightily for air. Moments later, a dark, sinister aura wrapped around King Sombra's horn and, ultimately, wrapping around my body. I had shut my eyes and started holding my breath (ironic, right? I just finished saying that holding your breath was the last thing you wanted to do, and here I was doing it anyway) as I felt a magical sensation take me away. Soon afterwards, a sound reminiscent of a cork bottle being popped, per se, sounded and I felt a change being to take place. As soon as the unexplainable change completed itself, I opened my eyes and noticed that I was definitely taller, however, so was everyone else!

"What did you do!?" I shouted at King Sombra.

"You asked me to fix you up," Sombra started, "which I did – you're welcome, by the way – but you never said that everyone else couldn't remain the same!"

"Oooh," Discord slowly stated, "that's the oldest trick in the chaos handbook..."

"Sombra," I began, having to enhance my voice since everyone around me was bickering and frightening about their newfound height increase, "need I remind you that you increased the height of the ponies that are holding you down, thus enhancing their power of magic?"

"Checkmate, smarty." Discord replied, winking at Sombra. "You screwed yourself over."

"Shall they demonstrate their new power?" I added.


	34. Chapter 34

Hard Times - Part 34

"I'm most likely sure that, due to the Princesses increased height, if they increase their power, you'll most likely die from suffocation." I stated.

"Sombra, I suggest you reverse that spell as well." Discord added.

"I didn't think that one through to the end..." King Sombra spoke.

Sombra utilized his magic once more, shrinking everyone back down to their original sizes. None of these previous events should have even occurred, with the exception of me being brought back to my normal size. What I didn't know still was if I was able to utilize my magic. So, I tried something basic - levitation or even lighting up the area - and found that I was able to perform those two actions easily. I had missed my emerald aura very much. It does indeed look beautiful with the light glistening and sparkling off of it.

I turned to Twilight and Rarity and smiled brightly. They returned the smile, but Twilight's quickly faded as she got right back down to business. She alerted me that the Elements of Harmony should end the dreadful nightmare, and I humbly obliged.

"Just one question, Twilight," I continued.

"What is it, Robert?" She replied.

"How do I activate my Element of Happiness?" I asked.

I got a giggle as a response, which confused me a little bit. "Just relax and let your happiness take over. The Element will do the rest."

I nodded, then proceeded to stand next to Pinkie Pie and Applejack. We had all stood together in a long, horizontal line and, one by one, each Element had activated on their own. With the exception of the Element of Magic, my Element of Happiness was the last Element to activate fully, mainly since I was having a hard time tracing my inner happiness. What triggered my Element to work was the thought about this adventure and how much I've grown on this journey, what I've learned about each and everyone, my past life, and my future life.

As soon as my Element of Happiness triggered, the Element of Magic also triggered and a spiraling rainbow, similar to the one that always shoots out of the rest of the Elements of Harmony whenever they were used. The spiraling rainbow shot upwards out of us, reached a peak near the top of the room, bent over, and surrounded both King Sombra and Discord. Although he was once reformed, the Elements of Harmony transformed him back into a stone statue and, having never been previously exposed to the Elements of Harmony, King Sombra had reverted back to his hazy state (reminiscent of when he returned to conquer the Crystal Empire after his thousand year disappearance) and the Elements of Harmony contained the haze.

As soon as the rainbow ceased fire, both villains were fully and successfully defeated. A round of cheers went all around as Princesses Celestia and Luna began to head back to the Canterlot Castle with the stone statue of Discord in tact. Princess Cadance returned back home towards the Crystal Empire as well, and we were all left alone. Another round of cheers went around before we decided to start the journey home.

* * *

A few hours had passed before we had finally arrived back in Ponyville. It's been a long time since I've seen this little, quiet town, but it definitely felt like I have yet to miss a single beat here. I may have missed a lot in the few years Rarity and I have been gone, but being back home felt wonderful.

Upon reaching the town square, we had all circled around each other, cheered once more for the returning of harmony back in Equestria, and went our separate ways for now. It was late when we arrived home, so we all went back to our homes to sleep for the night before celebrating in the morning, as per Pinkie Pie's request.

Since I still had no true home yet, Rarity allowed me to sleep over at her home, which I appreciated very much. She didn't have to do this, but I was grateful that she did offer me some of her hospitality. Plus, she asked me to stay by her side forever, which I simply couldn't say no to.

Rarity and myself had arrived at the Carousel Boutique shortly after parting ways with Twilight and the others and, being the gentleman I was, I opened up the door for Rarity with my magic, which she praised me for and for my gentleman-like posture. She led the way up to the spare room and, once we stepped hoof inside the room, helped me make the bed with her magic. I had gotten into the bed and, expecting Rarity to go into her room, she stood with me.

"Anything troubling you, Rarity?" I asked.

"Nothing at all," she replied, "I was just wondering if...well...this seems like an absolutely preposterous idea but, I was wondering if, perhaps, you would like to cuddle together, if you're okay with that that is."

"If you want to," I stated, "then let's sleep together."

"Thank you for fulfilling my request Robert!" Rarity chimed, clapping her front hooves together rapidly.

"You're very welcome, sweetie." I said as Rarity positioned herself next to me on the bed.

Her warm body pressed up against mine was magnificent. After a while, I began stroking her mane ever so gently with my hoof, which she let me do without arguing. She had fallen asleep not too long afterwards, as did I, letting my vast imagination carry me away to peace and serenity.

* * *

I awoke with a fright in the middle of the night as I tried my best not to disturb Rarity in her sleep. I began feeling an uncomfortable pain inside my chest and used my magic to keep Rarity stationary as I crawled out of the bed we were in. I had originally wanted to pace around inside the room - try to walk off my pain - but found that my hooves clacked against the ground too hard, so I had proceeded outside to attempt walking off my pain.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked myself once I was outside. "Why am I in so much pain?"

The pain started intensifying and unfortunately grounded me. I tried getting somebody's attention, but in the middle of the night, that seemed virtually impossible. The pain shot throughout my body and a sensation that made me light headed momentarily knocked me out unconscious. I had regained consciousness shortly after losing it, but found myself losing it permanently this time as the pain intensified to an unbearable amount. I collapsed on the ground, and ultimately lost consciousness truly out on the front lawn of Rarity's home.


	35. Chapter 35

Hard Times - Part 35

"Robert?"

"How is he doctor?"

What was going on? Where was I?

"He doesn't look too good, Applejack."

"Does that mean..."

"...I'm sorry."

"Oh, Robert, darling..."

What did this mean? Where was I? How did I get here? Better yet, where was here?

I heard some wings flapping in the nearby distance. I could only assume that Rainbow Dash had been hovering in the air, as she always did, but the possibility of someone else entering the room was always there.

"I came as soon as I heard what happened." A new voice beckoned.

"Is there any way to make him better, Princess Celestia?" Rarity asked.

I was caught off guard twice in that brief time frame. Firstly, I hadn't expected the Princess to visit so quickly after the events with Discord and King Sombra. Secondly, I swear I heard Rarity sobbing in the background. What was wrong with me?

"I'll try my best," Celestia assured Rarity, "but..."

"But what?" Twilight questioned after some silent moments passed.

I heard Celestia sigh a bit. Whether anyone else caught that was something I failed to notice, but I noticed the sigh.

"The prophesy foretold of a hero coming to save Equestria from another world." Celestia remarked.

"Which is what happened a few days ago." Rainbow Dash spoke.

"Right," continued Celestia, "but the prophesy also stated that once this task was completed, so will the hero."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"That means that the prophesy is telling us that, since Robert saved us all, his time to leave us is nearing." Celestia quietly replied.

"Meaning, he is going to die?" Rarity asked through some sobbing.

"That's what the prophesy says, Rarity." Celestia confirmed. "I'm sorry..."

"There must be something we can do to prevent this tragedy from coming true." Rarity pleaded.

"What if we offer him some of our magic abilities, Princess?" Twilight suggested. "It's not much, but I know that our magic is what keeps us unicorns going, so to speak."

"We could try that, Twilight," Celestia responded, "but whether or not it's sure to work is another story."

"I'll take any chance I get if it means a chance of living, Princess." Rarity cried.

Silence fell over for a while. I had my eyes shut the entire time, but after a while, I began to feel three horns touch my body and give off some magical energy. The pain I had in my chest was starting to cease, though it still existed inside of me. I had begun opening my eyes to notice that I was in a bed in a hospital most likely (which explains the doctor part). I looked around and saw Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Rarity all touching my body with their horns.

"What *cough* is happening *cough*?" I spoke, resulting in the three horns to be lifted off of me.

Rarity's eyes sparkled as she began to embrace me in a hug. Her sobbing was truly impeccable and I was dazed and befuddled. What exactly happened just now?

I didn't say a single word while Rarity hugged me. I thought it would've felt really awkward if I had said something that was completely irrelevant to this moment, so I stood silent. After a while, Rarity pulled her body away from mine and asked me how I felt.

"I *cough* feel fine, Rarity," I answered.

"Are you sure, Robert?" She replied.

"Completely, sweetie." I said.

Celestia stepped forward after Rarity had pulled herself off of the bed I was laying on. She looked me in the eye as she began telling me something.

"I'll make sure you get the best treatment possible, Robert," Celestia spoke. "It will be my way of thanking you for returning harmony back to Equestria."

"Thank *cough* you, Princess," I appreciated.

I felt woozy after a while. I politely asked everyone if it were alright if I caught a little sleep currently. They allowed me to do so, leaving the room I was in and letting me fall perfectly asleep.

_The prophesy states that I'm supposed to die now? _I thought to myself._ Well, I won't let that happen now..._

* * *

A few hours have passed and all I did was toss and turn in my bed. I couldn't stop thinking about how the prophesy has me dying here or my second chance at living, courtesy of Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Rarity. I looked out the window next to me and saw a full moon up high in the sky.

_Nighttime already,_ I thought, _time sure flies by here..._

Just that very instant, I got the craving for some blood. It was unusual, but I wanted to devour some blood in order to quench the thirst that came to me out of nowhere. I felt my canine teeth sharpen and extend themselves, causing me to bite the bottom of my lip, which penetrated the sensitive skin, causing it to bleed.

"That smell!" I said. "That beautiful, beautiful smell!"

Blood had started running down the crease of my mouth as I began sucking it inward. My blood shot down my throat and into my stomach, which relieved the pain inside my body while also quenching my thirst. Sweet...I just killed two birds with one stone by accident.

The blood soon stopped and I soon found out. I desired more blood, but since I couldn't force myself to penetrate my already damaged skin again, I had to improvise.

_Well,_ I thought to myself,_ I am inside a hospital. There surely must be blood somewhere inside the building, right?_

I crawled out of the bed, astounded by my new physical strength. I had opened the door to the hallway with my magic and began my quest for more blood.

I needed it. I desired it. I craved it.

I found it.

I found a package of blood, probably a quart or two, laying on an abandoned cart. I opened up the package and began devouring the tasty, addictive blood. I drank the package dry in a matter of minutes, leaving a red stain above my mouth on my muzzle. I had smelled the remaining blood and began licking it all off.

The blood was all gone, yet I still desired more to drink!


	36. Chapter 36

Hard Times - Part 36

"Good morning, Robert!" A cheerful Rarity chimed.

"Good morning, Rarity!" I replied with just as much cheerfulness.

I was still lying on my bed in the hospital, recovering from whatever it was that was driving me insane a few days ago. The doctor, Doctor Whooves, tells me that I'll be here for about a month before he can let me go. Rarity, on the other hand took this as an opportunity to get away from her work to check up on me each and every day.

I was lying in a room to myself with the blinds shut. The room, though the light is poor and visibility is horrid, was simply too hot for me with the shades open. Rarity had begun opening the blinds to the room, but I managed to quickly stop her from doing so.

"Why don't you want me to open up the windows?" She asked me. "Don't you want some fresh air?"

"I'd love some air, Rare," I playfully responded, "it's just that, whatever happened to me left my skin extremely sensitive to light and heat now."

"...if you say so, dear." She answered back, seeming to buy my words.

My intensified smell could smell the aroma of blood and, since Rarity was the closest pony to me, all I could smell was her blood...her sweet, delicious, mouth watering, blood...

Snap out of it, you fool! You're talking about the pony equivalent of a girlfriend here, you know.

I know, but her blood is just...it just smells so good right now...

Don't even think about it! How do you think she'll react if she found out what you are or what you did last night?

You're right...but how do I sidestep that? It's not like I can keep a secret for the remainder of our lives...that's a bit over-the-top, you know.

Why not tell her when the time seems just right? I'm sure she'll understand, right?

No! If I told her what I've become - a monster - things will never be the same between us both.

You're right...looks like you're gonna have to play this smooth for the time being...

Told you so...I just hope the unusual behavior towards the sun, blood, and garlic doesn't give me away.

Hey, you never know.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Rarity asked, noticing how I was licking my lips.

Snapping out of my monstrosity, I answered her question with another question (what a plot twist!).

"I have a random question for you, dear," I said, "have you ever donated blood before?"

Smooth, Robert...real smooth...

"As a matter of fact, Robert," Rarity started, "I actually donated some blood before. It feels nice to help out others indirectly."

So the blood she donated must be around here somewhere...if only I could find it.

Robert, buddy, neither you not her had been here in a few years. What are the odds her blood is still looming around here and what are the odds you'd find it? Better yet, why do you want to devour your marefriend's blood? That's sick and disgusting! If you're going to feast on blood, at least leave hers out of it! Matter of fact, leave hers, Twilight's, Rainbow Dash's, Fluttershy's, Pinkie Pie's, Applejack's, and anyone else you know, leave their blood out of your mouth!

"Why do you ask, Robert?" Rarity asked me shortly afterwards.

"I just thought it'd be nice to know that I am with a heroine." I replied.

"Oh, I'm no heroine, Robert." She spoke.

"You are to somepony out there." I assured her.

We slowly approached each other thereafter and gave each other a little kiss on each other's cheek. Pulling my face away from hers, I began to feel my canine teeth sharpen themselves, so I concentrated to the maximum on reversing the sharpening, and quickly.

Hurry up, Robert! Don't want Rarity to know about the teeth yet, now don't we?

No, I do not...I thought I made this clear a while ago.

I thought so too, but apparently it wasn't enough...

Suddenly, Doctor Whooves came in and alerted Rarity and myself that visiting hours were almost done. As soon as he left, both of us glanced over at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was nearly nine o'clock in the evening!

"Time sure flies by when you are with your loved ones, right Rarity?" I asked.

"It sure does, dear," she replied back, hopping out of the chair she was in. "I'll be back tomorrow again, Robert." She neared my face once more, giving me a kiss on my lips. "Sleep tight, sweetie."

"I will, dear," I replied as she stepped out of the room.

Good boy, Robert, you made it through ONE DAY without devouring your marefriend. Congratulations. One day down, a shit load more to go.

Hey! Don't talk like that! But, you know, now that she's gone, in only about three more hours, we can search for your feast that you oh-so desire...how's that sound?

THAT sounds wonderful! Now how do you want to pass the time by?

Sleep?

Sleep.

But I'm not tired, that's the thing...

So what do you suppose you do about that?

I don't know...I don't have a book or anything to do...

There is that television set up there in the corner, you know.

It's not that easy, for your information...

How so? Explain yourself.

Well, had we been back home, that box would've acted as a safe haven since you can get literally everything on tv...however, we're here...and that is the first tv I've ever seen in this world, you know. I don't recall seeing a tv on the show.

You don't recall a lot of things being seen on the show, mister...plus, you've been absent for a few years. Who's to say that technology hasn't advanced significantly here and they haven't discovered the wonderful, wonderful world of television?

I'm not one to say that, but I am one to request some blood entering my system, preferably now!

Not now...give it a few more minutes, the. We can prepare ourselves for the feast of a lifetime!


	37. Chapter 37

Hard Times - Part 37

Oh, there it is! Sweet, sweet blood!

Go on, Robert. Take it...you've earned it after saving Equestria from Discord and King Sombra. Sure it may have taken a while, but you were able to do it. You've earned this.

I snatched the blood and tore open the bag it was in with my canine teeth and scarfed down the delicious blood. Actually, I was in heaven and paradise, seeing how there was about five or six bags of blood laying before me. This was perfect for me - bags of blood, nobody around me, all to myself. Hell, I might have become a monster, but if my reward is this scrumptious blood, I'll take it!

"Hey!" Someone shouted. "What are you doing!?"

I stopped devouring the blood and faced the pony who had spotted me. They were a lightly colored Pegasus mare and, by the sound of it, a pretty brave one too. She had a relatively dark colored mane and tail and began approaching me.

Think fast, Robert! You're a blood sucking, blood devouring monster now! How do you think the public would react if they knew a monster was so close at heart to them? That won't sit nicely with everyone.

So, what do I do? I don't want to kill her, but I cannot make a break for it...I'm still technically a patient here an if they found out I was no longer in need of there assistance or that I wasn't even in my room, they would figure something out. I've been here mere days and my condition takes time to heal itself, but not this fast.

You don't want to kill her...you, my friend are a monster! How do you think that sounds? 'I don't want to kill her.'

I really don't! I'm not a killing machine, you know!

Listen to yourself, Robert! What monster doesn't kill!? Especially your kind! Your kind always kills things and beings! You'd be either a laughing stock or a disgrace to your kind if they found out!

My kind, huh? Name me one pony who is exactly like me and I'll do what my kind is supposed to do.

Do you really want to know?

Yes!

You sure?

Yes!

Positive?

For the love of god, spill the brand already!

Alright, but only because you so desperately want me to.

So, who is exactly like me?

Rarity, Robert.

Rarity? What, are you out your damn mind?

Well, it is your mind we're talking about, you know...

That may be so, but why would you suspect Rarity of being a monster like I am?

Think about it...the one time you were really close for an extended period of time was the only time it took for you to become one of then. Coincidence or proof? She made you what you are, you know, whether you like it or not.

I don't know...

Well, news flash, Picasso...your being hunted down right now. Look ahead of you.

You're right...I mean, I'm right...

Thank you, now, if I was in control right about now, I'd either run away or kill this Pegasus.

I told you before...I'm not a killing machine!

Listen to yourself! You're a monster, but you don't kill! That, my friend, is what I like to call blasphemy!

Well, it's not that I don't want to kill...I just don't know how...

Here's a tip for you: you see those fangs that are growing in at the moment? Yeah...use those to start!

But-

It's either you or her, you know...

"What are you doing sneaking around in the middle of the night!?" The Pegasus mare asked me.

I felt my fangs sharpen themselves and the aroma of blood in the air was excruciating. The Pegasus mare attempted to grab my arm, but I ducked and sank my teeth into her neck, drawing out some of her tasty blood.

The Pegasus screamed out in horror, most likely waking up and frightening the disabled that lay imprisoned in this hospital. They could not help this Pegasus but could only listen as the life was being drained from her as she slowly died.

"Precious, precious blood!" I shouted while devouring the blood and flesh of this Pegasus.

Once I was satisfied with myself, I let the body drop to the floor and made my way back to my room. I noticed the body flailing and struggling for air, but unable to move to safety. Moments later, the flailing stopped and she had died. She died at the hands - hooves - of me.

Now see? How did that feel?

It felt pretty damn good!

Good boy, Robert. Now wash yourself up. You have some blood stains on your coat. Best wash those off and not alert anyone what you have done just now.

Good call...

I wobbled towards a nearby restroom and proceeded to wash my blood spattered coat clean. It was hard work, washing off red blood stains, but manageable and doable, since the blood was fairly recently put on me. I managed to rid myself of all the blood and de-sharpen my fangs while navigating back to my room for the remainder of the night. My quench for thirst was satisfied, thanks to the gruesome Pegasus that tried to stop me, and I was dreadfully tired. I needed my sleep and I needed it now.

Upon reentering my room, I laid flat on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The monster within me was satisfied with the killing I just performed, thought the sane pony side was dreadfully guilty having just killed an innocent pony just doing their job. I shut up my sane pony self and let the monster take over within me.

Tell me, what else am I able to do?

What do you wish to know?

Well, you seem to know more about me than I do.

This is true.

So please, tell me everything I don't know.

If you want to, sure.

Thank you.

Where to begin? Well, for starters, Rarity is the pony who converted you from what you were to what you are now. You have super strength and your speed has increased as well, making you faster than even Rainbow Dash. Umm, let's see...what else is there?

Can I change forms? Can I take the form of a bat? Bats are common for this type of monster to transform into, you know.

I do know that, but that's physically impossible for you to do. Only the head can do that and even then it's a pain in her ass.

Her?

Well, Rarity is the head vamp, in case I never told you.

That's nice to know, I guess...

You're nocturnal. It hurts your skin when you go out into broad daylight, it will slowly eat away at your life! So you need to watch out for yourself because once this life is finished, so are you.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks for telling me.

Anything to keep us alive for as long as possible. Remember, we are technically immortal since age won't kill us, though the sun will over time.

Right...and one more thing.

What is it?

If Rarity and I are the same, why does she get to go out into broad daylight and not get hurt?

She has a protective invisible coat that protects her from the sun's harmful rays. If you explain to her what you've become, which I don't recommend doing yet due to our current location, she'll most likely teach you how to protect yourself as well. This means that you'll get to keep in contact with all of your friends.

That sounds good...I'll ask her once we check out of the hospital.

Which is what I was going to recommend on the first place.

Great minds think alike, you know.

Well, we are the same mind having a conversation. I'm your monster side talking to your living pony side, which, on a side note, will also be immortalized, unless you go out into the sun for a tremendously extended period of time.

How long can I stay outside before dying?

Beats me...nobody knows the answer to that and nobody wants to find out.

You say nobody as if there are more. Are there?

No. Just you and Rarity.

I'll hold you to that, you know.

And I can promise you, I'll hold you to that as well.


	38. Chapter 38

Hard Times - Part 38

"Hello, Robert!" A pleasant Rarity said.

"Hello, dear." I replied back.

Should I tell her?

It's your call if you want t-

"Robert, darling," cried Rarity, "what happened to your neck?"

"My neck?" I asked, unaware of what exactly she was talking about.

"Dear," continued Rarity, "are those...bite marks?"

"Bite marks?" I questioned.

"Sweetie," Rarity quietly spoke, leaning in towards me, "are you...what I think you are?"

"What do you think I am?" I replied.

"Are you...umm...a vampire?" She squeaked.

I sharpened my fangs so that I didn't have to answer and stunned Rarity. She covered her mouth with her hoof and started sobbing heavily. She reached out and felt my bite marks, ultimately collapsing her head on my chest.

"Oh, Robert *sniff*," Rarity sobbed, "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to do it..."

"It's okay, Rare," I replied, "you gave me the gift of life, you know."

"But *sniff*, I penetrated your ski-i-in..."

"And you made me immortal." I stated.

Rarity pulled her head up off my chest and slowly began to cease her crying. I stroked her mane ever so elegantly, and whispered to her ever so quietly.

"You gave me the greatest gift of all, sweetie," I whispered, "you gave me an eternity to spend with you."

"*sniff* Do you really mean that, dear?" Rarity replied.

"I meant every word, Rare," I answered.

Rarity smiled through her tears and approached my face. She gave me a kiss on my lips, and I exchanged a kiss upon my lips with a kiss upon her lips. We exchanged a few more kisses before she finally pulled away and fluttered her eyes at me.

"Have you drank anypony's blood yet?" She quietly asked me.

"Well," I chuckled.

I was going to explain myself to Rarity what happened last night, but, the doctors outside made that easy for me to explain. Outside in the hallways, one of the female doctors had screamed out that a body has been left massacred on the ground and I glanced over towards Rarity, who was wearing a tiny, evil smirk.

"Did that answer your question?" I asked Rarity.

"Yes, it did most certainly answer it, Robert." Rarity replied, fluttering her eyes at me once more.

"Somepony check her pulse!" Screamed the doctor in the hallway.

"How did it taste?" She continued.

"Warm blood has never tasted any sweeter." I slowly answered.

"Would you like some now?" Rarity asked me.

"Are you okay with it?" I immediately questioned, unsure if I would hurt her.

"I'm perfectly fine with it, sweetie," she told me, "we can't hurt each other, you know."

"I didn't know that, actually," I explained to Rarity.

"And now you do, my handsome, strong stallion." She replied.

"Well, in that case," I started, "would you like some now as well?"

"Are you sure about that?" Rarity playfully asked.

"You know we can't hurt each other." I buoyantly answered.

"Well, in that case..."

We wrapped out heads around each other's necks and we penetrated each other's skin. I could feel my blood being sucked out, which was the same amount as I was sucking out of Rarity. Sucking the blood was a easing moment, seeing as it calmed the monster within me down tremendously. It was a soothing moment in my now immortal life that I wish had lasted a bit longer than it did, but when a knock came on the door, we both pulled away from each other, as Applejack would say, lickety split.

"Uhh...come in!" I called out.

The door opened and soon after, Doctor Whooves came in and wore a displeased look on his face.

"Nyah...what's up, doc?" I asked.

"We know it was you." He answered back.

"What was me, doc?" I asked, trying my best to sound surprised.

"You murdered the Pegasus that's outside on the ground last night!" The doc shot back. "We also know that it was you who has been stealing our blood supplies as well!"

"Don't be so irrational, Doctor Whooves." Rarity replied, though she knew that I was indeed guilty as charged.

"He's a murderer and a thief!" He shouted. "And we've alerted the authorities about those actions as well!"

I glanced over at Rarity, who gave me a quick wink. I looked back over towards Doctor Whooves.

"Hey doc," I began, "could you come here for a sec?"

The fool fell for our plan and, when he was next to me, both Rarity and myself attacked and killed him quickly and quietly. As soon as we finished that, I jumped out of the bed and opened up the window.

"The sun!" I screamed. "It burns!"

"Here, Robert!" cried Rarity. "Let me help!"

Rarity casted the protective spell on my body and the pain instantly subsided. I thanked Rarity quickly and then we both jumped out the window and landed on the ground (in case I failed to explain, my room was on the ground floor). As soon as the nurses and other doctors spotted the massacred Doctor Whooves lying on the ground, we had sprinted out as fast as we could, away from the hospital, away from Ponyville...

Away from our lives...

We had sprinted rapidly towards the Everfree Forest and decided to stay here for the time being, until things cooled down in Ponyville, that is. We had spotted a desolate cave in the distance and went inside of it. Using my keen senses, I made sure that the cave was clear of all creatures that were inside of it. As soon as I determined that we were alone, I collapsed on the ground, and Rarity laid herself on top of me, which I didn't mind at all.

"What are we going to do, Robert?" Rarity asked me, grasping for some needed air.

"We'll stay put here, for the time being," I replied, "once things in Ponyville are calm and okay, then we'll go back."

"How long do you think that will take?" She asked me.

"I don't know..." I slowly answered back.


	39. Chapter 39

Hard Times - Part 39

"Are you thirsty, Rarity?" I asked my lover.

"A little bit, dear..." Rarity coughed.

"Here," I offered, bending my head so that my neck was fully revealed, "go ahead. Take as much as you need."

"Are you sure about this?" She asked me, uncertain if she should proceed.

"I'm as sure as sure gets, sweetie." I replied. "Go on and drink up."

"I'll try to be as gentle as possible, dear." Rarity told me as she began to penetrate my skin and suck out my blood.

I didn't mind this at all. Honestly, this was the least I could do since the only reason we were in this horrid mess was because of me. Had I not been caught red...mouthed back at the hospital, we wouldn't be hiding inside a cave.

Calm down, Robert. You're in this together with Rarity.

But now the town is going to know our secret.

Are they really? You murdered the only one who managed to put two and two together, you know.

How do you know someone else won't be able to do the same?

How do you know you'll be able to return back to Ponyville?

Touché, my friend. Touché.

Plus you have her little sister Sweetie Belle back home in Ponyville as well. How will she manage to survive without a big sister?

I don't want to talk about that right now. I want to know whether or not it's safe to go home now.

You and I both know that it won't be safe for a while...unless you get Twilight to help you guys out.

No...I don't want to bring Twilight into this mess.

Why not?

I put us into this mess, and I'll be the one who takes us out of it as well.

Your funeral, immortal dude.

"Thank you, Robert." Rarity said after she finished drinking my blood.

"No problem, dear." I replied.

Rarity was still positioned on top of me while I laid down on the floor of the cave. I hadn't minded this at all. Truth be told, I wanted to keep Rarity's beautiful fur and coat clean and perfect. I didn't mind mine since dirt and dust don't show themselves as obviously as it would on Rarity's coat.

You sure are the gentleman, Robert, letting your girl lay on top of you to keep her clean.

I do my best to keep my girls happy and clean, you know. After all, you are a part of me.

Don't remind me...

"Robert, dear," Rarity said, filling a silent void, "are you thirsty at all?"

"A little bit," I replied, "but I'll get over it."

"Are you sure you don't want any of mine?" She asked me.

"Not now, my love," I answered, "right now, we need to figure out how we're going to live out here."

Nice word choice, Casanova. If you want to know how to live out in these parts, the only other thing that can he-

"Perhaps Zecora could provide us with some help." Rarity suggested.

"Who's that?" I immediately questioned.

Zecora is-

"Zecora is a zebra who lives out in these parts." answered Rarity. "She understands slightly what it means to be run out of town, so why don't we ask her for some assistance?"

She's asking you, you know.

Well, no shit, Sherlock!

Hey...no need to be snippy. I'm just saying that since she was the one giving you the answers I was about to give.

"What do you think, dear?" She continued. "Do you think we should ask Zecora for some help?"

"It's not like we have much of a choice here..." I slowly answered. "The way I see it, we have two rational options. We could either ask her for help or we could sit in this cave and starve to death."

"Which wouldn't necessarily happen since we are immortalized, dear." Rarity said, kissing the top of my head.

Do you seriously forget that you're immortal sometimes?

Honestly, I do.

Why's that?

Well, for one thing, I died before I came here, you know.

Right.

"Let's go visit Zecora then, sweetie." I told Rarity, looking up to give her a kiss on her lips.

"Let's go, dear." She replied before we left the cave together.

Darkness had fallen across the land and I figured that the midnight hour was close at hand. On the ground, creatures were crawling in search for something, and these creatures looked like the ones who would terrorize nearby neighborhoods. A cockatrice roamed about nearby, so Rarity and myself made no direct eye contact at it. We didn't want to get turned to stone here, you know. As Discord once said, stone suits aren't really...style.

"Where do you suppose her home is located?" I asked Rarity.

"I saw we passed it on the way here," she answered, "so we'll just retrace our steps and find her home in no time at all."

"I love how smart you are, dear," I said, giving her a kiss upon her cheek.

"And I love how strong and robust you are, sweetie," replied Rarity, also giving me a kiss on my cheek.

I blushed a bit and rubbed the back of my neck with my hoof, managing to find my bite marks on my neck as well. The marks felt unusual, but I knew how and why they appeared there and was not disappointed or angry in any way imaginable. I smiled back at Rarity as we began to travel back to where we once came from with the hopes of searching and finding Zecora's home for some assistance.

While walking, some tense silence filled the air and all we could hear was the creatures bickering in the night, draining out the sound of our hooves clacking on the ground. Rarity turned her head slightly and began telling me something.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

"Like what?" I replied.

"Do you like being a vampire?" She described.

"Besides from the running-out-of-town part," I stated, "I love it very, very much."

"How about me?" Rarity continued. "How did my blood taste?"

"Your blood tasted very sweet, my dear," I said, "just like you."

"Oh, you are such a gentle monster!" Rarity told me, turning around and kissing me on my lips.

"Now tell me," I spoke, "how did my blood taste?"

"Your blood tasted magnificent and also sweet," she said, "much like yourself."

"You, Rarity, are such a beautiful queen." I quietly replied, kissing her on the lips.

"If I'm your queen," Rarity stated, "then I want you to be my king."

"I will."


End file.
